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Time spent on social media is plateauing. Longer videos could keep users around longer while providing more monetization opportunities for platforms. But some short-form creators won’t be receptive to the shift.

High audio listenership and time spent this year means limited growth. Subscription revenues will be healthy, as most listeners pay to limit ads. And Spotify will lead in nearly every metric, though several platforms are doing well.

The UK is the digital pioneer, with a video-driven future. Despite lower total media time, the UK leads France and Germany for digital usage by some distance. And digital video is having a particularly strong impact. Total video time remains enduringly strong, with the average time spent forecast to be 10 minutes higher in 2025 than in 2019.

American time spent with media is falling at a faster rate than global time spent, dropping 1.8% from 2024 to 79.6 hours weekly.

Social video acts as an inflationary factor to time spent. Video content is fundamentally time-consuming, so it’s not surprising that overall time spent with social networks is on the increase. We currently count social video time as a separate line item (from overall digital video) in our time spent reporting, and it’s on the rise as well.

OTT video—including YouTube, subscription OTT, AVOD, and free ad-supported streaming TV—is extremely popular in nearly all forms. But traditional pay TV continues to reach new lows.

TikTok is also banned in India, meaning Meta’s Reels and YouTube shorts can compete for short-form video attention.

Our time spent with sub OTT forecast has not changed so far this year. We still project 1:49 per day with sub OTT in 2024 and declining growth going forward. Adults will spend over a quarter (26.9%) of their daily video time and nearly half (47.4%) of their daily digital video time with sub OTT this year. Click here to view the full forecast for US time spent with sub OTT video.

Declines in linear TV viewers, time spent with linear, and the number of linear addressable TV households, combined with streaming services outpacing traditional TV subscription revenues, makes it unclear whether linear ad spend will continue growing.

The news: Spotify’s Partner Program has opened new monetization paths for video podcasters, enabling MP4 uploads and revenue through ads and subscriptions. Creators like Ryth report earning over $55,000 per month, surpassing YouTube earnings. However, the model doesn’t support dynamic ads for premium subscribers, prompting networks to hold back. Why it matters: Nearly half of all digital media time is spent on video, and Spotify is betting big on that trend—especially among Gen Z, who increasingly prefer video-first podcast formats. Our take: Spotify’s approach may alienate ad-heavy networks for now, but video’s growth and creator enthusiasm suggest its long-term strategy is sound.