YouTube has now overtaken traditional TV in daily reach in Sweden. At the same time, new players are growing rapidly on the platform as audience behavior changes.
Nordicom at the University of Gothenburg has now presented the Media Barometer 2025, a comprehensive survey of Swedes' media habits. The report is based on responses from over 6,000 people and shows how the consumption of television, digital platforms and news has changed over the year. The results point to a clear shift in which digital platforms are playing an increasingly central role in everyday life.
Youtube overtakes TV - clear figures
In 2025, 52% of Swedes watched YouTube on a typical day, while traditional scheduled TV reached 46%. This means that YouTube is now the single video medium that most people use daily, while TV viewing continues to decline.
– The growing popularity of YouTube stands out in this year's report, says Elisabeth Falk at Nordicom.
This development confirms a trend where digital platforms are gradually taking over the audience's attention from traditional broadcasts.
The entire media landscape is being redrawn
At the same time, moving images remain the dominant media in Sweden, with 95% of the population watching some form of video every day. However, the distribution has clearly changed, with streaming TV reaching 68% and YouTube 52%, while traditional TV is lower.
Social media also has a strong position, with 84% daily use, showing how much media consumption now takes place via digital platforms.
New players growing in the shift
As audiences' behavior changes, the actors that achieve impact are also affected. On platforms such as YouTube, reach and influence are determined more by viewer engagement than by traditional distribution channels.
One example is Frihetsnytt, which according to Media academies has entered the top 100 list of Sweden's most influential YouTube channels, ranking 77th. This shows how new players can grow quickly when competition is on different terms than before.
Intergenerational differences
The use of YouTube varies greatly across age groups, with younger people more likely to use the platform daily. Among 15-24 year olds, the share is 83%, while in the 65-85 age group it is 25%.
At the same time, traditional TV is still strong in the older group, with 85% watching daily. This shows that the change is gradual and that different generations have different media habits.
Changing how news reaches audiences
With YouTube now overtaking traditional TV in daily reach, the way content is disseminated and consumed is also changing. Publishing is increasingly taking place via digital platforms where both established and new players compete for audience attention.
This means that audience choice has a greater impact on the content that reaches them, while the thresholds for reaching them have become lower than before.
