IPA survey tracks media consumption trends

The survey, which was carried out by Ipsos MediaCT in late 2009/early 2010 and involved a sample of 6,050 people, reveals that adults in Britain watch 3.7 hours of television per day, listen to the radio for 2.1 hours and access the internet for 1.8 hours per day.

Only minor changes in the levels of television viewing (-5pc), radio listening (+1pc) and reading (-5pc) have been recorded since the equivalent survey in 2008. The survey notes that any marginal decline in consuming each medium through traditional means have been more than compensated for by the growth in their consumption through their digital platforms.

Watching TV online and watching video online is done by just less than 20pc of adults each week for about a quarter-of-an-hour a day.

Online time up 38pc

The only medium to record a significant increase in audience is online, with hours spent using the internet on an average day up from 1.3 to 1.8 hours. This increase in usage has occurred throughout the day but is greater in the evening and is being primarily driven by the growth in social networking.

For 15-24 year-olds, television is still the largest overall medium (97pc weekly reach/2.6 average daily hours) but internet use (96pc/2.3hrs) is a very close second with out-of-home third (99pc/2.2). The reach and average time spent by 15-24s talking on a mobile phone, watching video online and watching television is greater than for all adults, while the time spent reading newspapers and magazines is lower.

Sixteen percent of all adults and 34pc of 15-24s use their mobile phones to access the internet each week.

Thirty-five percent of all adults claim to use Facebook each week, up from 16pc in 2008. For 15-24s Facebook’s weekly reach is 79pc, up from 39pc in 2008. Only 4pc of adults claim to use Twitter once a week or more whilst the comparative weekly reach figure for Linkedin is 1.4pc.

The BBC continues to be the dominant supplier of media to the British public. It reaches 98pc of all adults with at least one of its television, radio, online and magazine properties. In comparison, Sky reaches about half that number.

Shopping time down

The average amount of time spent shopping fell from 0.73 hours a day in 2008 to 0.63 hours per day in 2010. Compared to 2008, an increasing number of adults say that when shopping:  they look for the lowest prices (59pc from 53pc); they shop around to take advantage of special offers (62pc from 59pc); price is the most important factor in choosing a product or service (39pc from 33pc).