The consumption of at-home media and entertainment thrived amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the total shutdown of live events and the pause on film and TV production will cause digital ad spending to decline in 2020.

Digital video viewership in the UK will continue to rise this year. The pandemic has provided a particularly significant impetus for subscription video-on-demand services, while connected TVs have become the consumption device of choice.

Daily broadcast TV consumption increased compared with the prior year, to average 2 hours, 40 minutes (2:40). Time spent with radio fell marginally, though, to 59 minutes. Print newspapers and magazines maintained a smaller, but still substantial, market presence—read by 46.4% and 49.2% of internet users, respectively.

The older skew of Germany’s population contributed to the relatively high penetration of print media, compared with consumption levels in many other countries. Live TV’s reach remained impressive, with 88.8% of internet users having watched broadcast TV in the prior month as of Q1 2021—virtually unchanged from H1 2020. The average time spent each day with broadcast TV rose by 3 minutes, to 2:19.

Our forecast for digital video viewers in Canada highlights greater consumption of the medium during the pandemic.

Although mobile video ad spending and viewer numbers are surging, most streaming still happens through TVs. Mobile video consumption and ad spending figures are heavily influenced by out-stream ads that appear within users’ feeds on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. YouTube also gets much of its traffic from mobile.

Digital video consumption has grown dramatically since the pandemic began, and services are reporting record growth. How does time spent with digital video compare with TV? TV still commands the highest average daily time spent for consuming long-form content.

eMarketer analyst Ross Benes, forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom, Business Insider Intelligence research associate Daniel Carnahan and senior analyst Audrey Schomer discuss whether the coronavirus might accelerate cord-cutting, whether sports TV rights will shift to digital platforms quicker, how a delayed NFL season could impact ad spending, how many Americans watch sports, what a second COVID-19 wave might do to the leagues and its lasting effects on sports consumption.

As before, internet users in affluent homes were most likely to have watched TV shows or movies via SVOD. Penetration had risen in all cohorts, but remained lowest (54.0%) in the oldest group, ages 55 to 64. Notwithstanding the leap in video consumption, broadcast TV still claimed more daily time.

Nearly 73% of respondents had used TV broadcasters’ catch-up or on-demand services in the previous month, and almost 70% had recorded TV programs to view later. Consumption of paid-for video also jumped year over year (YoY). More than three-quarters (78.0%) of respondents had watched films, TV programs, or other video content via subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services like Netflix.

Usage of time-shifted TV viewing options rose substantially year over year (YoY). Almost 80% of internet users watched programs they’d recorded earlier, while 84.4% used broadcasters’ catch-up or on-demand services. Digital video consumption continues to outstrip TV viewing, however, with 94.7% of China’s internet users accessing video-on-demand (VOD) services in the previous month.

The number of subscription video viewers now rivals the live TV audience. In Sweden, as elsewhere, the pandemic fueled wider consumption of digital video, including time-shifted TV viewing. In Q1 2021, 69.2% of internet users polled had used broadcasters’ catch-up services to view TV shows in the previous month.

A pandemic-fueled rise in digital video and audio consumption has continued into 2021. Broadcast TV still attracted a vast majority of internet users. As of Q1, 90.4% of those ages 16 to 64 had watched live TV in the prior month. More than three-quarters (78.2%) of respondents had used a TV channel’s catch-up or on-demand service, and nearly 57% had recorded TV programs to watch later.

Young consumers have led the way in terms of digital habits and consumption through the pandemic, but older age groups have been forced to catch up. Some old habits may die hard in these groups, but the digital future has definitely been hastened.

Younger adults, females, and respondents in middle- and higher-income households were more likely to view movies, TV programs, and other video content via paid-for services. Despite the rise in digital video consumption, only 35.2% of internet users owned a smart TV in H1 2021.

Meanwhile, penetration of TV streaming sticks and similar devices approached 17%. The share of respondents who owned a smart home product, such as a web-enabled security system, was still minimal but did rise from 4.3% in 2020 to 5.7% in H1 2021. Digital video consumption began to boom.

TV viewer losses have been more severe among younger age cohorts, causing average TV time spent to fall more among harder-hit age groups. For example, TV penetration among the 18- to 24-year-old cohort plunged to 63.8% in 2020, down from 71.2% in 2019. CTV Widens Its Lead in Digital Video Consumption vs. Mobile and Desktop.

Paid-for video posted a quantum leap, too, though subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) consumption lagged video viewing overall. More than 55% of respondents had watched TV shows, films, or other video content from services like Netflix in the month prior, compared with 45.4% in H1 2019. By contrast, digital audio appeared less popular in 2021, as penetration dropped to 53.2%.

Greater consumption of free and paid-for digital video hasn’t replaced older forms of TV viewing, however. In Q1, nearly 85% of Thailand’s internet users had watched live TV in the month before polling, and over 60% had watched TV shows they recorded earlier. In addition, nearly 69% had used a broadcaster’s catch-up or on-demand service.

Broadcast TV and radio still attract major audiences in France. Some 93.0% of internet users ages 16 to 64 had watched live TV in the month prior to polling, and 80.2% had listened to radio. Daily TV consumption averaged 2:37 in H1 2020, and radio at 1:02.

As a result, digital video’s reach now exceeds that of live TV by nearly 16 percentage points. It’s worth noting that GWI included the hugely popular YouTube in its video category for the first time this year, and that likely boosted consumption figures. However, that’s probably not the sole reason for the steep increase in video usage.

Time spent with broadcast TV averaged a robust 2 hours, 31 minutes (2:31) daily in H1 2021, virtually unchanged since 2019. While live TV still flourished in Romania, usage of time-shifted TV was rather limited. Just 31.3% of internet users had used TV channels’ catch-up or on-demand services during the previous month in Q1, while 33.2% had recorded TV broadcasts to watch later.

Digital video consumption was above average among all younger adults and those in middle- and higher-income homes. But even in the oldest age bracket, over 85% of internet users had recently streamed video. Nonetheless, time spent with broadcast TV in H1 was more than half an hour greater than time spent with online TV and video, at 1 hour, 56 minutes (1:56) per day versus 1:22, respectively.

Live TV viewing was less popular among younger internet users than with their elders in Q1. Some 74.1% of those ages 16 to 24 had watched live broadcast TV in the prior month, but that share was over 90% for the 35-to-64 group. Moderately affluent respondents were also more likely to watch live TV than those at either end of the income scale.