YouTube passes live TV in daily US screen time, UK trails by two minutes

September 3, 2026 · Advanced Television

Americans now spend an average of 11 hours 47 minutes a day consuming media, compared to 10 hours 14 minutes in the UK, according to Attest's 2026 attention economy report, which surveyed 1,000 adults in each country alongside five years of tracking data. Within that time, YouTube has overtaken live television in the US, taking 1 hour 46 minutes of the average day against 1 hour 31 minutes for live TV. The UK sits two minutes from the same crossover, with YouTube at 1h16m against live TV's 1h18m. Nearly a quarter of viewers in both countries, 23%, say they mainly watch YouTube on a television screen. Creator platforms overall beat live TV and subscription streaming combined in both markets: 3h54m to 3h20m in the US, 3h8m to 2h56m in the UK.

Campaigns planned around assumptions that skew younger miss the real shift: in the US, Millennials give television their full attention just 7% of the time, the lowest of any generation, while Gen Z and Millennials are statistically tied for least attentive in the UK. Ad tolerance also splits by market: 88% of UK Gen Z skip ads on social video against 82% of their US counterparts, and 60% of UK Boomers skip social ads compared with 46% of US Boomers. Brits have also adopted Netflix's ad-supported tier faster, with 45% using it against 37% of Americans. Attest CEO Todd Latham said, "brands planning campaigns around old viewing habits are already behind their own audiences."