Netflix has edged ahead of the BBC as the first place UK viewers turn when deciding what to watch, according to Ofcom’s Media Nations 2026 report.
The regulator found that 26% of viewers now turn first to Netflix, compared with 25% for the BBC and 15% for ITV. The result places a global streaming platform marginally ahead of the national public service broadcaster as the default starting point for programme choice.
Ofcom also found that traditional broadcasters’ on-demand services are holding up in a highly competitive market. BBC iPlayer and ITVX grew 9% year on year, while major live events continued to draw large audiences. YouTube viewing on television sets has doubled since 2022, showing that the living-room screen is no longer reserved for broadcast or subscription streaming alone.
The findings capture a structural change in media consumption. Viewers are no longer choosing only between channels. They are moving across streaming services, broadcaster apps, social video, gaming, clips, live events, and on-demand libraries. The first screen decision increasingly takes place inside platform interfaces rather than linear schedules.
UK broadcasters face a clear need for digital scale. The BBC remains a major force in total viewing and public service content, but the habits of younger viewers have changed sharply. Global platforms benefit from recommendation engines, deep libraries, device integration, and international content budgets.
The advertising and brand consequences are substantial. Media planning has become more fragmented as audiences split across paid streaming, broadcaster video-on-demand, YouTube, social platforms, podcasts, gaming, and live sport. Reaching mass audiences still counts, but the routes to that scale are becoming more complex.
Brands are already adapting to a more fragmented attention market. Monzo’s global brand platform, launched across multiple channels and markets, reflected the same pressure: campaigns now have to work across several formats, measurement systems, creative conventions, and levels of consumer trust.
Traditional broadcasters still retain advantages. Live events, news, national moments, sport, drama, and trusted domestic programming can bring audiences together in ways that platform libraries do not always replicate. Broadcaster apps also provide a route to first-party audience data, personalisation, and digital advertising products.
The problem is one of economics as much as audience share. Public service broadcasters face production cost inflation, competition for talent, pressure on licence fee and advertising models, and the need to invest heavily in streaming technology. Global platforms spread content and technology investment across larger markets, giving them a different cost base and broader monetisation options.
YouTube’s growth on television sets adds a further challenge. It competes for viewing time without operating like a traditional broadcaster or subscription streamer. Its creator ecosystem, algorithmic discovery, and advertising model give brands another channel for attention, but also make quality, brand safety, and measurement more complicated.
The report also highlights a generational divide. Younger audiences are less attached to linear schedules and more likely to move between video, social, gaming, and short-form content. Older audiences still support traditional viewing patterns, though those habits are also changing as connected TVs and on-demand interfaces become standard.
Content owners now face strategic choices around direct relationships, platform partnerships, licensing, consolidation, and specialisation. Domestic broadcasters have already been pushed towards collaboration and potential structural deals as they seek scale against global competitors.
Ofcom’s findings do not show the disappearance of UK broadcasters. They show a market in which default behaviour has changed. Netflix becoming the first port of call for slightly more viewers than the BBC is a marker of how audience habits, platform power, and advertising economics are being reset. The next contest is not only over programmes, but over the interface through which viewers decide what counts as television.
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