Brands urged to wake up to new era of Brits 'flying solo'

British adults are increasingly consuming commercial media in isolation, with young people – those aged between 16 and 34 – now spending almost half of their commercial media time without others, meaning winning attention requires far more complex strategies.

So says a new IPA report ,“Making Sense: The commercial media landscape 2026”, based on an analysis of the commercial media elements of the comprehensive 2026 IPA TouchPoints database.

According to the report, British adults now spend 44% of their commercial media time consuming commercial media on their own, up 10% from 2015, when the IPA first began tracking the metric.

The figure is highest among 16-34s, who now spend 46% of their commercial media time alone, which is a 21% increase since 2015. Among 35-54s, 39% of commercial media time is now consumed alone, an 11% increase since 2015.

In terms of actual time spent, supporting data from the 2026 IPA TouchPoints database shows that this means British adults now spend more than two and a half hours (2 hours 32 minutes – up from 1 hour 56 minutes in 2015) each day consuming commercial media on their own. For 16-34s, this figure is 2 hours 45 minutes a day (up from 1 hour 52 minutes in 2015).

The data also shows that all adults are spending 4% less time per day talking face-to-face since 2015, at 7 hours, 25 minutes (down from 7 hours 45 minutes in 2015), while 16-34s are spending 11% less time per day talking face-to-face, at 7 hours, 10 minutes in 2026 (down from 8 hours 4 minutes in 2015).

The report suggests that the growing dominance of smartphones is helping to drive the shift towards more individualised media consumption, particularly for the younger generations.

In 2026, smartphones account for the same share of commercial media time as TV-sets among all GB adults, at 34%. However, among 16-34s, smartphones account for 49% of commercial media time, while the share accounted for by TV sets has fallen from 32% in 2015 to 21% in 2026.

For 16-34s, the growth of social media, combined with other online video, means these two channels now account for 49% of their commercial media time.

IPA associate director and head of marketing and data innovation Simon Frazier said: “Consider a Saturday night in a family home in the late 1980s and everyone would possibly be glued to Beadle’s About, sharing anecdotes and bonding over a shared experience.

“Compare that to today, when the likelihood is that the family will be on multiple screens in different rooms of the house, each engaging with things relevant to their interests. There is greater connection than ever before to the digital realm, but the shared media experience is increasingly under pressure.

“It’s important to highlight that there isn’t a lack of commercial media opportunities – and we can see that new ad-funded opportunities, such as commercial SVoD, are continuing to grow rapidly. The challenge is that media consumption is increasingly personalised, concurrent and often consumed alone. This is fuelled by the blurring of device boundaries, letting audiences engage with content on their own terms and in moments that fit the modern pace of life.

“What this means is that winning attention now requires more complex strategies and planning, more context-aware creative, and these being based on a deeper understanding of how different media environments work.”

Global commercial strategy director Farhann Cachra added: “Media has become more personalised and more likely to be consumed alone. Personalisation risks becoming isolation, and with it an atomised society and a propensity to feed an individualised culture.

“At the same time, the human need for collective experience hasn’t shrunk. It’s just been squeezed into fewer moments. That scarcity is precisely what makes them so valuable.”

Brands urged to wake up to new era of Brits ‘flying solo’

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