News consumption in the UK may be showing signs of transition from traditional newsprints to online with as many as 41 percent Brits accessing news through apps and websites as against 40 percent through newspapers, latest survey by Ofcom reveals.
According to Ofcom, out of the 2,731 people surveyed across the UK, just over 4 in ten people access news through apps and websites, up from 32 percent last year, as against 36 percent who access news through radio. This proves that online consumption of news is just as popular as traditional newsprints.
Ofcom report claims that young people are the primary reason behind the upsurge in online news consumption as 60 percent of those surveyed in the age group of 16-24 are accessing news online as against 44 percent last year.
Despite the surge in online news, TV is still the most popular format of news consumption – 75 percent of respondents claim to tune into their favourite news channel to keep tabs on the latest happenings this year as against 78 percent last year.
Ofcom report reveals that usage of TV for news varies with age as “over 55s watch an average of 196 hours of TV news each year” as compared to just “27 hours for 16-24 year olds” and “115 hours a year” for average UK adult.
“The rise in digital news is driven by increased mobile and tablet use among younger people (16-24). They are ten times more likely than those aged 55 and over to access news on a mobile (40% versus 4%) and twice as likely via a tablet (15% versus 7%)”, notes Ofcom.
Find the infographic highlighting Ofcom’s research into news consumption below:
