Digital vs Traditional Media Consumption: GWI’s latest Insight Report

This week marks the launch of a brand new report looking at the daily time spent on digital and traditional forms of media – including TV, print press, radio and social networking (download a free summary here).

Examining trends at a global level, as well as between countries and across the age groups, key headlines include:

* In 26 of GWI’s 32 countries, people are spending more time each day on online rather than traditional forms of media. The only places where traditional still leads are the UK, Australia, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and France – but even here, the ratios are close.

* Watching traditional TV remains the single biggest media activity – accounting for an average of 2.58 hours per day (a 23% share of total time spent on media). However, online TV is enjoying consistent rises; by 2014, people were watching an average of 0.7 hours per day (a 6% share).

* The USA remains the biggest television market in the world, with internet users typically watching 4.33 hours per day. Those in China watch the least television overall (2.20 hours), but are the second biggest consumers of online TV (1.03 hours).

* Online viewing accounts for 33% of the total time that 16-24s devote to television. Among 55-64s, the equivalent figure is just 7%.

* Print Press is the most digitized form of media; internet users in the majority of countries surveyed now typically spend longer on online rather than physical print press.

* Mobile now accounts for 30% of the time we spend on online media – a rise from 22% in 2012. At a national level, mobile’s share exceeds 40% in several fast-growth markets, led by Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the UAE.

* In every country surveyed, social is the dominant online media activity. Taken together, social networking and micro-blogging account for nearly 2.5 hours of our daily online time – something which translates to more than 40% of our online activities. And if we add in reading/writing blogs, that rises to nearly 50%.

Clients can explore these themes in more detail, as well as a range of other media consumption topics, by downloading the full report from the Insight store here. To sign up for a free, no-commitment trial, click here.