Nordics lose a generation of viewers

Mediavision: The Decade that Marks the Loss of a Generation

With 2019 soon coming to an end, we can conclude that the past decade probably has been one of the most spectacular ever for the media industry. One way to illustrate this, is by showing the drastic transformation among young viewers. The trend is similar all through the Nordics.

Already at the very start of this decade, in 2010, the Swedish Media council pointed at a shift in viewing habits among younger audiences. Broadcast viewing was dropping but on the other hand, internet usage was increasing rapidly. As we have seen so many times before, behaviour of early adopters quickly became mainstream.

Online viewing and streaming services have grown at a very quick pace, especially post Netflix´s Nordic launch in Oct 2012. For example, in 2016, 60% of 15-24-year olds in Sweden watched video online and the viewing was mostly driven by these new, global streaming services.

Today, we find ourselves in a maturing video market with low viewing figures for younger demos in traditional broadcast, but on the other hand a substantial daily reach as well as viewing minutes allocated to online video. In Sweden, average daily viewing among 15-24 year-olds have declined with a staggering 71 minutes (or -71%) in the first three quarters of 2019 compared to the same period in 2010. In Finland, viewing has dropped by 58 minutes, comparing Q1-Q3 2010 to Q1-Q3 in 2019. In Norway the corresponding figure is 111 minutes, and in Denmark the decline is even larger, at 134 minutes.

The drop in traditional viewing in young demos, is by no means exclusive for the Nordics. BBC recently reported that for the first time, less than half (49%) of the 16-24-year-olds in the UK tuned into BBC´s TV channels an average week. As this decade comes to an end, it is safe to say that the younger audiences have radically changed their consumption patterns and are primarily consuming video through other devices and platforms than traditional TV. In Q1-Q3 2019, online video consumption constituted three fourths of the average daily consumption of video among 15-24-year-olds in the Nordics.