AI delivers a far reaching prognosis on Nordic broadcaster and streaming audiences for 2025 and beyond.

TV viewing will decline in the years to come, but the entire TV industry should now keep an eye out for one group that will support TV consumption in the future, according to a prognosis from Swedish media agency AdOn, written by Media Director Peter Nilsson.

AdOn produces forecasts on media trends and has recently created a TV forecast based on known data, assisted by Pace Predict - an independent Swedish management consultancy with tech roots that applies Marketing Mix Modeling enhanced by Artificial Intelligence. AI enables Page to detect trends and create patterns based on multiple data points, divided into many demographics and timing factors, such as calendar events, seasons, etc.

”Ideally, AI makes it possible for us to clench future developments and trends, in various demographics, based on our historical data,” Nilsson told Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The new prognosis offers predictions on how TV viewing will develop through 2025. "Looking ahead, there's an important target group that all industry players shouldn't miss," Nilsson wrote in DagensMedia.se.

The key figures are: “Swedish TV viewing in the 25–45-year age bracket will drop to only 27 minutes per day by 2025. This compares to an average viewing of 88 minutes daily with all people (3–99). The explanation lies with the 60+ group who will average 222 minutes per day in 2025,” Nilsson wrote.

It seems that the TV industry needs to grow to appreciate the 60+ population, according to Nilsson. "Instead of sleepless nights over the falling viewership among younger age groups, we should appreciate the continued strong numbers in the golden target group of 60+, as viewership in this group will grow stronger over the next few years,” Nilsson suggested.

The 60+ Swedes already watch much more TV during the year than the 25-44-year-olds, mainly since their viewing barely dips during days off like Easter or summer holidays, unlike in younger households.

The 60+ years and older remain an underrated group, while broadcasters, streamers, and advertisers still cater to the stressed and over-leveraged 25-44-year-olds. Nilsson suggests that the TV industry – and especially advertisers – should reach out for a golden opportunity and engage the mature target group.

DR Research confirms the age trend indicated in the AdOn 2025 prognosis. “For all practical purposes, the available Danish data point in the same direction as the Swedish prognosis,” DR Communication told NFTVF.

“From a strictly programming point of view, DR does not have commercial considerations, and the fact that TV viewers get older on average and watch more TV, does not make them more or less relevant for DR, because DR serves all Danes.”

The age trend is hardly breaking news within the advertising industry: TV viewers on average are ageing. However, Peter Nilsson points out that people over the age of 60 years have a stronger economic base for several reasons; among others, they own their homes and properties to a greater extent than younger people.

Omnicom Media Group Nordic agrees in general with the AdOn prognosis. OMG’s 2024 outlook shows a significant drop in commercial viewing in all target groups – including the 50-59 age bracket - but only a very marginal drop for 60+ years.

"We haven't created predictions yet reaching into 2025, but I predict we would reach the same conclusions (as AdOn, ed.). It has been quite clear since 2020 that TV consumption is moving toward ageing TV viewers – and advertising spending will follow," Chief Investment Officer Claes Braagaard, OMG, told NFTVF.