Global consumer media usage, including all digital and traditional media channels, increased 2.4% in 2024 to an average of 57.2 hours per week, following a sharp deceleration in time spent with media growth in 2023.
That’s according to new findings in a just-released report from PQ Media.
Growth in consumer media usage, including all digital and traditional media channels, was driven by federal elections in 15 of the top 20 markets, as well as the Summer Olympics in France. However, growth is expected to fall 0.3% in 2025, the first decline since the 2009 Great Recession.
This, PQ Media concludes, shows that media consumption has reached its saturation point as digital device penetration rates have peaked in major developed markets including the United States.
An analysis of the 2024-2029 period indicates that media usage with rise in even years when most domestic and global markets hold federal elections, as well as major international sporting events like the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and the World Hockey Cup.
In contrast, declines are expected each odd year during the forecast period, when there are fewer federal elections and international sporting events. “Also contributing to the media consumption decline in 2025 is expected deceleration in discretionary spending on media devices and content, as consumers worldwide tighten their overall budgets due to an expected rise in inflation and possible recession due to the tariff wars instigated by the new Trump administration in the United States,” says PQ Media CEO Patrick Quinn, a past speaker at Streamline Publishing’s Forecast conference, held each November in New York.
However, Quinn finds, the decline will be short lived, as gains are expected in 2026, when more than a dozen major countries hold federal elections, the Winter Olympics are held in Italy and the FIFA World Cup is tri-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Another trend which continued in 2024 is the shift from traditional media to digital media, with digital rising to 39.7% share globally, up from 37.3% in 2023 and 28.6% in 2019.
“Some might question that statistic as being too low, but one must remember that both India and China have populations over 1 billion, with a high percentage living in poverty and unable to afford internet access and mobile phones, among other emerging nations with the same population profile,” PQ Media explains. “That said, there are 11 of the top 20 markets that digital media usage accounts for over 50% of overall consumption, such as the United States, South Korea, the Netherlands and Spain.”
A new datapoint being tracked by PQ Media is an additional generation not found in previous editions, the “ai-Gen,” defined as individuals born between 2025-2039 — the first generation to live its entire life with artificial intelligence (AI).
It follows PQ Media’s policy to name generations based on digital technology, such as the m-Gen (2013-2024), the first generation to live their entire lives with mobile phones and the i-Gen (1996-2012), the first generation to live its entire life with internet access.
“Compared with previous generations, the ai-Gens will be introduced to digital media at an earlier age, as broadband, smartphone, and tablet penetration rates have emerged as the highest ever in 2025, with children knowing how to use smartphones and tablets almost from the time they can walk,” said Quinn. “With streaming services replacing broadcast & cable TV, over-the-air radio, DVDs and CDs, and mobile games and podcasts increasingly being developed that are targeted towards young children, the use of traditional media platforms and channels will continue to decline at a more rapid rate each year.”
Ad-supported media accounted for 52.7% of time spent in 2024, down from a 55.5% share in 2019, while in 11 markets, including the United States, consumer-driven media usage exceeds 50%, led by Spain and Japan at 57.9%.
Television (including live, digital, streaming and over-the-top video) remains the most used of the 11 media platforms that PQ Media tracks, reaching 28.07 hours per week in 2024, while film and home video posted the fastest growth, up 10.4%, fueled by more movies being released on streaming services and high number of blockbusters in movie theaters.
OTT video (streaming, video-on-demand, pay-per-view and DVR viewing) is the most used digital channel at 8.77 hours per week.
PQ Media’s 12th annual Global Consumer Media Usage Forecast 2025-2029 can be found by clicking on this hyperlink: https://www.pqmedia.com/product/global-consumer-media-usage-forecast-2025-2029/
