Sky launches The Attention Index
July 26, 2024
A new report from Sky – The Attention Index – reveals what is grabbing the attention of audiences in today’s information-rich world.
From the big screens in living rooms, to the small screens on mobiles, the report provides an insight into where people are focusing their attention, how people watch and how they stay connected.
Entertainment that keeps the UK gripped
Time spent watching TV is higher than ever in Sky homes, outside of lockdown. On average, Sky customers watch over four and a half hours of TV every day. One third of the TV they watch is made by Sky, including sports, news, entertainment and movies.
The report shows that Sky Original productions, such as Mary & George, are performing better than ever. The Sky Original, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, has had 6.8 million hours of viewing since launching in May, and every episode has been watched by at least 1.3 million people.
Watching content when desired
The ability to catch up on TV means that people don’t feel the need to watch so many genres ‘live’. This has driven an increase in on demand content, such as Season 4 of True Detective, which has had 10 million viewing hours since it launched on Sky in January 2024, 46 per cent of which was on demand. This compares starkly to True Detective Season One which launched on Sky ten years ago and at the time received 9 per cent of viewing via on demand.
CuriosiTV
Whether what watching live or on demand, the UK is a nation of multitaskers when viewing – 63 per cent are doing something else whilst we watch TV. Two in five (41 per cent) are actually searching about the TV show as they watch, leading to surges in Google traffic.
- Searches were up 164 per cent for Mary and George Villiers, the main characters of Mary and George, the month of launch vs the previous month.
- Searches for Auschwitz in the UK increased by 107 per cent in line with The Tattooist of Auschwitz airing on Sky – with over 230,000 searches in the month of launch, the highest in 20 years.
Brits love of sport
Overall, viewing of Sky Sports was up 17 per cent in 2023. Over the last six months, sports fans watched 1 billion hours of sport on Sky. The audience is expanding too – in 2023, female viewing of Sky Sports was up 18 per cent and under 35 viewing was up 26 per cent.
Some of sports that have been capturing the attention of people across the UK, include:
- Football remains at the heart of our sporting culture
- In total, 313 million hours of live football were watched by Sky viewers from January to June
- Across the Premier League, English Football League, Scottish Professional Football League and Women’s Super League, viewership was up 9 per cent in the 23/24 season
- Football is also the single biggest driver in traffic for Sky Mobile
- Darts is expanding its fan base
- The PDC World Darts Championship final enjoyed a 204 per cent increase in viewing, with average viewing for the final at 3.1 million
- Outside of football, it was the most-watched event in Sky Sports history
- With Luke Littler becoming one of the most watched individuals on Sky Sports web and app with average views across his videos reaching 23.6k – more than Harry Kane (12.5k) and Erling Haaland (19.2k).
- Premier League Darts viewership was up 189 per cent this year
Dana Strong, Group CEO at Sky, commented: “This report shows that as our viewing habits become more fractured, the competition for our attention is even greater. With UK households watching over two billion hours of content made by Sky, we’re proud of the role that we play in bringing entertainment content and sporting moments to millions of viewers.”
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