Tomorrow afternoon, around 9 million people will sit down to watch two grown men grunt and sweat as they fight for tennis supremacy. The Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final attracts huge audiences every year. Indeed, last year the BBC broke records, with a further 69 million viewings of the Wimbledon Championship online.
The coming week, though, will see even higher viewing figures. That’s because there are two semi-finals for the FIFA World Cup, with the final showdown a week on Sunday. At the last World Cup in 2022, there were 5.6 billion viewers of the competition. This year, the pundits are expecting more because the competition involves so many more nations.
If someone told you that “TV was dead”, these figures suggest otherwise. Even after years of predictions about television’s decline, we still spend a substantial part of each day watching broadcast TV, streaming services and online video. Despite the competition from social media for our eyeballs, we are still watching an average of 2.25 hours of TV every day. That’s before you count the amount of video we watch online. At any moment of the day, StreamCharts shows that over 10 million people are watching something on YouTube. That’s before you add in the other 3.5 million individuals soaking up what’s on the other Internet streaming channels.
This matters for business because video is no longer just entertainment. It is where attention, trust and familiarity are being built.
The fact that we are hooked on video content was made clear with new data from Forbes Magazine, which listed the Top Creators of online content for 2026. The Top 10 of these are all YouTubers who create vast amounts of video content. So popular is their video material that, between them, they are earning $634m.
We are clearly hooked on TV and video. Humans can’t get enough of it. Some clues as to why this is the case can be found in the research conducted by ThinkBox. They have been researching why people watch TV for decades. One of their studies shows that there are eight main reasons why we love watching TV and video. Almost half of our TV watching appears to be for the simple reason of unwinding, having a bit of an escape, and feeling comfortable. It is the simplest, most effortless way to put our feet up without worrying about anything. In fact, TV watching triggers brainwaves associated with relaxation and a pleasant feeling. It is a psychological drug.
There is also research showing that mediated experiences, such as watching TV, help us confirm our sense of self. We spend much of our time in conversation with people, asking questions that ultimately are about us, ensuring that our sense of self is reliable. Media experiences seem to help achieve the same psychological outcome.
Much of the video and TV we watch is straightforward storytelling. Whether it is news broadcasters relaying the latest human-interest stories or a scripted drama that makes you cry, stories engage people. We get drawn in by stories and find them fascinating, so much so that we cannot stop watching. Psychologists from the University of Sussex demonstrated in a study three years ago that all this TV watching is actually good for us. Watching TV and video has powerful psychological effects that improve happiness and reduce anxiety.
As you will have gathered by now, there are compelling reasons as to why TV and video are valuable. We love moving pictures. But the question is, how much do you love them for your business?
Given that TV and video watching are seemingly here to stay, isn’t it time that we all capitalised on their value? Why are we letting other video creators get all the revenue? Why is your business letting the competition attract those video watchers?
When I mentioned this to a colleague the other day, they wondered if we’re all too late. Has the ship sailed and we missed it? Not according to this blog on Social Media Examiner. It explains how to start your video-based activity, suggesting that it is never too late. So, what’s stopping you? Get that camera out, your TV make-up kit at the ready and start attracting those avid viewers. I will see you on YouTube.
