Streaming Predicted To Top Traditional TV Viewing For First Time

CBS San Francisco

February 15, 2023

For the first time ever, U.S. adults will spend more time this year watching digital video on platforms such as Netflix, TikTok and YouTube than viewing traditional television, Insider Intelligence forecast on Wednesday.

In the historic first, the market tracker said it expects "linear TV" to account for less than half of daily viewing, dropping to under three hours while average daily digital video watching climbs to 52.3 percent with 3 hours and 11 minutes.

"This milestone is driven by people spending more and more time watching video on their biggest and smallest screens, whether it's an immersive drama on a connected TV or a viral clip on a smartphone," Insider Intelligence principal analyst Paul Verna said in a release. "Given teens' preferences for social and streaming video over TV, we can expect these trends to continue to shift in favor of digital."

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