The weekly reach of ad-funded Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVoD) services, including Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, has nearly tripled in the past year, providing greater opportunities for advertisers. This is according to the 2025 (7th) edition of the IPA TouchPoints report, “Making sense: The commercial media landscape” published on 10 September.
The report, which draws on IPA TouchPoints 2025 data to explore how commercial media consumption has changed over the past decade, reveals that ad-funded SVoD services now reach 30% of UK adults each week, up from 11% in 2024 and 10% in 2023. (Please note: these figures are separate to the overall reach of SVoD channels which would include both ad-free and ad-funded content, and that this increase in the reach of SVoD ad-funded channels coincides with Netflix raising the price of its ad-free subscription offering and the auto-enrolment of existing customers to the new ad-funded tier on Amazon Prime in January 2024).
Looking at the reach of ad-funded SVoD services by generation, the data reveals that they now reach over a third of 16-34s (36%) and 35-54s (36%), and over a fifth of over 55s (at 21%). These figures are all up considerably from 2024, when they measured 12% (16-34s), 13% (35-54s) and 9% (55+).
Further analysis of the IPA TouchPoints data in the interactive IPA TouchPoints DayLite platform, which provides even greater depth on the findings from this latest report, reveals that the most popular ad-funded SVoD platform is Netflix, which reaches 16% of UK adults, followed by Amazon Prime (15%) and Disney+ (7%).
Other key findings from Making sense 2025 (7th Edition):
In addition to analysing time spent, share of time and weekly reach of each commercial medium across four key audiences – All Adults, 16–34s, 35-54s and 55s+, Making sense reveals the correlation of media habits between the different generations and charts the consumption of media by device. Key additional findings include:
Time spent with curated commercial media hits decade high among 16-34s
Overall time spent with curated commercial media for all adults has risen by three minutes year-on-year to eight hours and 13 minutes, although this is down 14 minutes from 2015. The eight hours and five minutes that 16-34s spend with curated commercial media in 2025 is, however, the highest mark since the eight hours and 13 minutes recorded in 2015, even outpacing the 2021 Covid lockdown data.
When comparing different age groups year-on-year, there is a different story at each end of the spectrum. Among 16-34s, the time spent each day with curated commercial media has increased by 16 minutes since 2024, while over 55s have seen a nine-minute fall year-on-year.
UK adults spend almost two-thirds (63%) of their commercial media time on digital channels, up from 42% in 2015.
Weekly reach of social media matches that of Commercial Live/Recorded TV for UK adults
The weekly reach of Commercial Live/Recorded TV has dropped year-on-year, falling to 73% across all adults in 2025. This marks a 23% decrease since 2015 and, combined with a year-on-year increase in the weekly reach of social media, brings it level with social media as the third highest reaching medium, after OOH (95%) and Functional Internet (85%).
The top five commercial media properties by weekly reach for All Adults in 2025 are: Facebook (52%), YouTube (45%), ITV/STV (44%), Channel 4 (39%), and Instagram (39%). The top media properties by generation are: 16-34s: YouTube (66%); 35s-54s: Facebook (63%) and over 55s: ITV/STV (63%).
Correlation in weekly reach of curated commercial media across generations falls from all-time high
The year-on-year changes in the weekly reach of curated commercial media has seen a drop in the correlation across generations. Following the 60% seen in 2024, the correlation of the reach of curated commercial media channels between 16-34s and 55s+ now sits at 52%. However, it remains significantly higher than the 44% correlation recorded in 2015.
Meanwhile, the correlation in time spent with different channels has risen to 22%, the highest mark since 2020, although this is considerably down from 58% in 2015.
Smartphones and TV sets dominate device usage following a decade of evolution
For the first time, UK adults are spending marginally more time viewing curated commercial media on a smartphone (35%) than a TV set (34%). The next most used devices are a PC/Laptop at 14%, Radio (8%) and Tablet (5%).
The TV set remains the dominant device for over 55s to view their curated commercial media at 46%, down from 50% in 2024, followed by a smartphone (19%). This trend is reversed among 16-34s who view 50% of their curated commercial media on a smartphone, and 22% on a TV set.
Commenting on the findings:
Says Simon Frazier, Making sense Report Author and Head of TouchPoints Marketing & Data Innovation:
“It is without question that advertisers are having to navigate an increasingly decentralised media ecosystem, and so being able to pinpoint where the greatest commercial opportunities lie is invaluable. The findings from this year’s Making sense report are particularly interesting when looking at the growth of ad-funded SVoD. We’ve been tracking this since Netflix first introduced their advertising-funded tier in the UK in 2023, and after some incremental growth in 2024 we have seen a major change this year with the weekly reach rising considerably.”
The 2025, 7th edition is also accompanied by perspectives from Talon, Meta, Code For Good Now, Global Media & Entertainment, Initiative, Republic of Media and the7stars.