Australian broadcast television is sitting on a demographic time bomb as it continues to lose young viewers at an accelerating rate.

Australia's quarterly TV viewing figures are out and once again they're putting on a brave face despite the bad news buried in the numbers. The Australian Multi-Screen Report has been renamed the Australian Video Viewing Report – drawing figures from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen – but the numbers tell the same grim story.

Australian broadcasters face an uphill battle to win over viewers, with live sport still a major drawcard. Credit:Peter Dejong

Broadcast television remains by far the most-watched source of content, but that doesn't mean Australia's broadcasts should give themselves a pat on the back. It's only the rusted-on 50+ demographic which is keeping the figures from going into total freefall. The 18 to 35 demographic – the next generation of seniors – is looking for entertainment elsewhere.

In the first quarter of 2017, Australians watched an average of 79 hours and 30 minutes of broadcast television on in-home TV sets each month – a 7% drop on the same time last year. This decline is accelerating, as the 2016 figure was only a 5% drop on 2015.