TV viewing seems to have declined among UAE residents, according to YouGov’s latest media report.
The report found that UAE residents are spending fewer hours watching TV but that on demand streaming remains constant.
‘The 2024 Media morph’ report explores the shifts in media habits of UAE residents over the last few years.
A higher proportion of UAE residents spent less than 10 hours per week on live TV viewership in 2023 compared to 54 per in 2021 and 70 per cent in 2023.
Watching TV via a video on demand streaming service saw a slight increase from 84 per cent in 2022 to 86 per cent in 2023.
Rise of the VOD platforms
All platforms have experienced increased usage in the last two years, but Amazon Prime and YouTube have had the largest uplift in the same time period.
Among the different age groups, Gen Z are the most likely to use on demand services. They are also more likely than others to say that live TV is a thing of the past (44 per cent).
A smaller amount of the general population in comaprison considers TV to be outdated (38 per cent).
YouTube continues to dominate Gen Z’s top choice for on-demand TV and has grown the most in the last two years followed by Amazon Prime and Disney+.
Music streaming platforms
When it comes to streaming music, 36 per cent of UAE residents are streaming music for six or more hours weekly.
YouTube Music and Spotify are the most popular streaming services used and have witnessed the highest growth in the last two years.
Even among the music platforms, the Gen Z streams more music, with 27 per cent listening for more than 11 hours weekly, compared to 20 per cent of the general population.
Although Spotify is the most popular platform among them, Google Podcast has witnessed a growth of 5 per cent among the Gen Z.
