Leading Brands in the UK Media & Entertainment Category: Q1 2025 Insights

In the rapidly evolving Media & Entertainment sector, understanding audience engagement across platforms is crucial. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data, encompassing web, app, and advertising insights, offers unparalleled visibility into user behavior. This article delves into the performance of three leading brands—YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp—across the UK in Q1 2025, drawing comparisons with Q4 2024.

YouTube

YouTube, accessible via youtube.com and the YouTube app, continues to dominate the digital landscape.

• Audience Trends: The monthly true audience for YouTube remained stable, consistently above 64M throughout the quarter. The platform saw a balanced mix of web and app users, with web-only visitors hovering around 16M and app-only visitors exceeding 27M monthly.

• App Engagement: Monthly active users on the YouTube app grew slightly from 48M in Q4 2024 to over 48.2M in Q1 2025, indicating steady user engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: YouTube's monthly ad spend surged significantly in February, exceeding $740K, primarily on TikTok, which delivered nearly 94M impressions.

Facebook

Facebook, with its vast reach through facebook.com and the Facebook app, maintains its stronghold in social media.

• Audience Trends: The monthly true audience for Facebook remained stable at around 45M. The web platform attracted over 24M unique visitors monthly, while the app-only audience consistently exceeded 22M.

• App Engagement: The Facebook app saw a slight fluctuation in monthly active users, with numbers ranging from 39.8M to over 40.2M during the quarter.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Facebook's monthly ad spend was modest, with a peak of over $2K in March, primarily on Snapchat, delivering around 550K impressions.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp, available on whatsapp.com and the WhatsApp Messenger app, continues to be a key player in messaging.

• Audience Trends: Monthly true audience figures for WhatsApp were robust, consistently above 57M. The app-only visitor count exceeded 50M, highlighting a preference for mobile usage.

• App Engagement: Monthly active users on WhatsApp grew slightly from 54.2M in Q4 2024 to over 54.8M in Q1 2025, reflecting strong user loyalty.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Monthly ad spend on WhatsApp was minimal, with a small investment in January, yielding impressions primarily through Reddit.

Conclusion

This analysis underscores the dynamic nature of the Media & Entertainment sector in the UK. Sensor Tower's data, derived from our Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics offerings, provides critical insights into cross-platform user behavior. These insights are invaluable for brands looking to optimize their digital strategies and maximize audience engagement. Sensor Tower’s consolidated data offers unique advantages for decision-makers, ensuring they are equipped with the insights needed to drive growth and innovation in a competitive landscape.

For more information on how Sensor Tower can enhance your strategic planning, visit our website.