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News consumption in the UK: research report

25 June 2014

Introduction

This summary slide pack provides the findings of Ofcom’s 2014 research into news consumption across television, radio, print and online. It is published as part of our range of market research publications that examine the consumption of content, and attitudes towards that content, across different platforms. The aim of this slide pack is to inform an understanding of news consumption across the UK, and within each UK nation.

The slide pack details various findings relating to the consumption of news; the sources and platforms used, the perceived importance of different platforms and outlets for news, attitudes to individual news sources and an overview of local media consumption. It also provides details of our cross-platform news consumption metric – ‘share of references’. An accompanying summary report which highlights the key findings is available on the Ofcom website.

This report uses a variety of data sources. The primary source is a news survey commissioned by Ofcom and conducted by Kantar Media in March and April 2014, comprising an omnibus survey of 2,731 people across the UK, which includes boosts of 350 in each devolved nation. This is the default source unless otherwise specified. Other sources used include:

• an omnibus survey of 2,152 people across the UK, commissioned by Ofcom and conducted by Ipsos Mori, about local media;

• metrics on television viewing from the industry currency BARB; • newspaper readership figures from the National Readership Survey (NRS); and • online consumption metrics from UKOM/comScore

3

News consumption in the UK: contents Section Slide

1 News consumption by platform 4

2 Use of multiple sources across platforms 10

3 Importance of news sources 20

4 Share of references 24

5 News consumption via television 29

6 News consumption via radio 36

7 News consumption through newspapers 39

8 News consumption via the internet 48

9 Attitudes towards news topics and reasons for following news 56

10 Local media use 61

11 News consumption in the nations 69

1 News consumption by platform

75%

41%

40%

36%

25%

13%

21%

11%

5%

4%

5%

78%

32%

40%

35%

14%

11%

6%

4%

7%

Television

Any internet or apps*

Newspapers

Radio

Internet or apps on computer/laptop/netbook

Internet or apps on tablet**

Internet or apps on a mobile

Word of mouth

Magazines

Interactive TV, Ceefax, TV apps

None of these / Don’t follow news

2014 2013

Figure 1 Platforms used for news ‘nowadays’

% of adults in UK

Consumption of news via the internet has increased for both computers/laptops/tablets and mobiles since 2014, while TV has seen a small decrease. Television remains by far the most-used platform for news consumption. News consumption by any type of internet platform (41%) is now on a par with newspaper and radio consumption.

Q3a) Which of the following do you use for news nowadays? 2014 Base: All adults 16+ (2731). 2013 Base: All adults 16+ (2862) *Any internet or apps is an aggregate of all internet devices. **Tablet usage not asked separately in 2013

34% amongst those with a Smartphone

Any internet or apps has increased

amongst 16-34s from 44% in 2013 to 60%

Driven by 16-34s - from 66% in 2013

to 59%

Internet or apps on computer/laptop/netbook/tablet

has increased from 25% in 2013 to 31%

56%

60%

36%

21%

29%

15%

40%

15%

5%

2%

10%

90%

21%

54%

41%

12%

7%

4%

8%

4%

3%

3%

Television

Any internet or apps*

Newspapers

Radio

Internet or apps on laptop/netbook

Internet or apps on tablet


Word of mouth

Magazines


None of these / Don’t follow news

16-24 55+

Those aged 16–24 are more likely than those aged 55+ to use the internet or apps to access news (60% v 21%) and they are less likely to use the television (56% v 90%). Use of a mobile for news shows the biggest difference between the age groups.

Platforms used for news ‘nowadays’: 16-24s and 55+

% of adults in UK

Q3a) Which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults 16+ (2731). *Any internet or apps; aggregate of all internet devices.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Q3a)/Q3aa) Which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults 16+ (2013 – 2862, 2014 - 2731) * These averages are calculated from the 8 platforms used for news nowadays asked at Q3a, to allow for comparison of trend over time, rather than using the fuller list of platforms asked about in 2014.

Use of four main platforms for news nowadays

95%

75%

40% 36% 41%

90% 78%

40% 35% 32%

Any of the four mainplatforms

Television Newspapers Radio Internet (anydevice)

2014 2013% of adults in UK

The average number of platforms used nowadays for news is 2.2

(2.1 in 2013)*

Over nine in 10 adults (95%) use any of the four main platforms (TV, newspapers, radio and internet) for news. The figure is higher among over 55s (96%) than 16-24s (89%). All platforms are more likely to be used by those in the AB socio-economic group, and this group also uses more platforms in general than those in the DE group. The use of the internet for news shows a large differentiation by both age and social grade.

Figure 4

Q3a) Which of the following do you use for news nowadays? 2014 Base: All adults 16+ (2731), 2013 Base: All adults 16+ (2862)

Combinations of four main platforms used nowadays for news ‘TV only’ has decreased slightly since 2013, with just under one in five (18%) using only TV for news. One in ten (9%) say they only use the internet for news, an increase from 5% in 2013. One in five (20%) of those aged 55+ and almost three in ten (28%) of those in the DE socio-economic group use only TV for news, compared to one in ten (9%) of ABs. Almost one in five of those aged 16-24 use internet only for news, compared to 1% of those aged 55+.

18% 13%

9% 9% 9%

8% 7% 7%

5% 2% 2% 2% 2%

1% 1%

5%

22% 14%

10%

7% 5%

8% 6% 6%

4% 3%

2% 1% 1% 1%

0% 10%

TV onlyTV + Newspapers

TV + Newspapers + RadioTV + InternetInternet onlyTV + Radio

TV + Radio + Newspapers +…TV + Radio + Internet

TV + Internet + NewspapersNewspapers only

Radio onlyInternet + Newspapers

Internet + RadioRadio + Newspapers

Internet + Radio + NewspapersNone of the above

2014 2013

TV only Internet only

16-24 13% 19%

55+ 20% 1%

AB 9% 9%

DE 28% 5%

Proportion of each demographic that use TV only and internet only

Figure 5

Q3a) Which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults 16+ (2731)

Make-up of news consumption by four main platforms Of all the possible platform combinations used for news, TV and no other platform is the most popular at 18%, followed by a combination of TV and newspapers (13%). Seven per cent of respondents used all four platforms.

Television 75%

Radio 36%

Internet 41%

Newspapers 40%

9%

13%

8% 2%

2% 9%

7%

7%

9%

18%

2%

2%

1% 5%

1%

None of the above = 5%

2 Use of multiple sources across platforms

Among those who use each particular platform, the mean number of sources used within them has not changed. Overall, the average number of sources used across all platforms is 3.8.

Average number of news sources used nowadays per platform

Q5a to Q5e Base: All who use each platform for news nowadays (TV=2136, Newspapers=1160, Radio=990, Internet=1029, All platforms=2580).

3.8 average across platforms (3.7)

2.0 1.9 1.4 2.0


2013 figures in brackets (1.9) (2.1) (1.4) (1.9)

Figure 6

Figure 7

Q5a to Q5e Base: All who use any platform for news nowadays (2580) Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided.

Distribution of multi-sourcing Over three-quarters (76%) of news consumers use three or fewer news providers. Compared to 2013, the use of two providers has increased slightly (26% to 29%).

WHOLESALE

26%

29%

21%

12% 7%

2% 1% 0%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 provider 2 providers 3 providers 4 providers 5 providers 6 providers 7 providers 8+ providers

76% use 3 or fewer

55% use 1 or 2 providers

22% use 4 or more providers

Figure 8

Q5a to Q5e Base: All who use any platform for news nowadays (2580) Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided.

Distribution of multi-sourcing

26%

27%

19%

11% 8%

4% 2% 1% 1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 provider 2providers

3providers

4providers

5providers

6providers

7providers

8providers

9+providers

RETAIL

27% use 4 or more providers

72% use 3 or fewer

52% use 1 or 2 providers

At a retail level, 72% of news consumers use three or fewer news sources. There have been no changes since 2013.

Figure 9

Base: All who use each platform for news nowadays :TV=2136, radio=990, newspapers=1160, internet=1029, All platforms=2580. Note: For individual platforms the mean number of sources is among those who use just that particular platform for news. For all platforms (aggregated) the mean number of sources is shown among those who used any of the four platforms for news and aggregated across all of them so is therefore a wider base .The calculation is made by summing the number of sources each respondent said for each platform, and then dividing by the number of people who use any of them.

Number of sources used on each platform

The number of sources used across platforms, proportion of respondents(%) (2013 figures in brackets)

Over three in five (62%) of radio news listeners use just one source. Over four in ten online news users (45%), TV news users (42%), and just over a third of newspaper readers (35%) use only one source.

Number of sources used

TV Radio Newspapers Internet/apps All platforms

1 42% (43%) 62% (64%) 35% (29%) 45% (45%) 20% (21%)

2 34% (34%) 24% (20%) 39% (44%) 22% (21%) 19% (18%)

3 14% (13%) 7% (7%) 13% (14%) 13% (14%) 17% (17%)

4 4% (5%) 2% (2%) 6% (6%) 6% (7%) 13% (13%)

5 2% (2%) 1% (1%) 2% (2%) 3% (3%) 9% (9%)

6 1% (1%) - (-) 1% (1%) 2% (1%) 7% (6%)

7+ 2% (-) - (-) 1% (-) 2% (-) 15% (12%)

Mean number of sources used

2.0 (1.9) 1.4 (1.4) 1.9 (2.1) 2.0 (1.9) 3.8 (3.7)

Figure 10

Base: All who use each platform for news nowadays :TV=2136, radio=990, newspapers=1160, Internet=1029, All platforms=2580. Note: For individual platforms the mean number of sources is among those who use just that particular platform for news. For all platforms (aggregated) the mean number of sources is shown among those who used any of the four platforms for news and aggregated across all of them so is therefore a wider base .The calculation is made by summing the number of sources each respondent said for each platform, and then dividing by the number of people who use any of them.

Number of sources used on each platform, by age group

The number of sources used across platforms, proportion of respondents (%)

Of those who use each platform for news, those in the 16-34 age group are more likely than those in the 55+ age group to use just one source.

Number of sources used All platforms 16-34 year olds 55+

1 20% 23% 16%

2 19% 20% 18%

3 17% 13% 20%

4 13% 10% 15%

5 9% 7% 11%

6 7% 6% 8%

7+ 15% 6% 5%

Mean number of sources used

3.8 3.9 3.8

Figure 11

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source> which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults 16+ (2731) Note: 2013 figures only shown where there are statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014

Top 20 news sources: reach among all adults The top two news sources in terms of reach among UK adults are both TV channels, with BBC One being the most used (53%). The BBC website or app is now the third most-used news source.

4% 4%

5% 5% 5% 5% 5%

7% 7% 7%

8% 8%

9% 9%

10% 11%

16% 17%

24% 33%

53%

The GuardianThe Metro

The Mail on SundayBBC Two

Any local daily paperThe Daily Mirror

The Sun on SundaySky News website or app

FacebookBBC Radio 1

Google (Search engine)Channel 4

BBC Radio 4The Daily MailBBC Radio 2

The SunBBC News ChannelSky News Channel

BBC website or appITV1/ITV WALES/UTV/STV

BBC One

TV Channel

Newspaper

Radio Station

Website / app

16% in 2013

57% in 2013

Figure 12

Q5a to Q5e Base: All who use any source for news nowadays (2553)

Sole use of news providers (used nowadays) : 2013 vs. 2014

76% (78%) of news

consumers use three or fewer

providers

26% (27%) use one

provider only

16% (12%) only use

6% (8%) only use

16-24 55+ AB DE

7% (7%)

7% (10%)

4% (5%)

9% (10%)

Proportion of each demographic that use only BBC One as a news source (2013 figures in brackets)

One quarter (26%) of news consumers use one provider only. The proportion of news consumers who use the BBC only has increased from 12% to 16% since 2013.

Figure 13

Base: Q5a to Q5e. All who use any platform for news nowadays (2580) Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided. This wholesale category is derived from responses given about individual news titles.

Cross-platform audience reach of providers used ‘nowadays’ for news Eight in ten (80%) of those who use any news source use any BBC source. There have been no shifts since 2013.

Cross-platform reach (%) 79%

42%

30%

19% 17%

9% 5% 5% 6% 5%

36%

80%

40%

30%

17% 18%

9% 6% 5% 4% 4%

1%

39%

2013 2014

WHOLESALE

‘Other’ includes 273 sources (all below 2%)

33 TV stations (Mostly foreign) 153 local papers (Not DMGT or Trinity)

74 websites or apps

Figure 14

Base: Q5a to Q5. All who use any platform for news nowadays (2580 ) Note: ‘Wholesale’ is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided (except the three generic categories ‘commercial radio’, ‘aggregators’ and ‘social media’). Within our sample ‘Other’ included mentions for 37 TV channels (mostly foreign), 157 local newspapers (not DMGT or Trinity Mirror) and 71 websites or apps.

Cross-platform audience reach of providers used ‘nowadays’ for news Eight in ten (80%) of those who use any news source use any BBC source. There have been no shifts since 2013.

79%

37%

19% 19% 17% 11% 9% 9% 9% 9% 8% 5% 5% 5% 5%

24%

80%

36%

22% 17% 18%

9% 9% 7% 9% 7% 9% 8% 6% 5% 4% 1%

29%

2013 2014

Cross-platform reach (%) RETAIL

Other includes 252 sources (all below 2%)

33 TV stations (mostly foreign) 153 local papers (not DMGT or Trinity)

65 websites or apps

3 Importance of news sources

34%

Figure 15

Q8a) Looking at all the sources of news you have said that you use, which one is most important to you personally. *’Others’ includes sources below 2%. Base: All who use any news source nowadays (16+=2553, 16-24=319, 55+=1081). Note: 2013 figures only shown where there are statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014

Single most important news source across all adults and selected age-groups The proportion of UK adults who say BBC One is their single most important news source is lower than in 2013 (28% vs. 34%). 16-24s place more importance on websites/apps than in 2013 (45% vs 30%).

28

12

5 5 9

4 3 2 2 2

28

20

6 2

4

18

7 5 4

34

40

14

6 3 2

6 2 2

25

0

10

20

30

40

50

BBC One ITV1/ITVWALES/UTV/STV

BBC NewsChannel

Sky NewsChannel

BBC websiteor app

BBC Radio4

BBC Radio2

Facebook The Sun BBC Radio1

Others*

All UK 16-24 55+

Proportion of respondents (%)

2013 all UK %: 5%

All UK 16-24 (2013 figures in brackets)

55+ (2013 figures in brackets)

TV channel 54% (62%) 36% (46%) 65% (70%)

Newspaper 11% 12% 15%

Radio 12% (10%) 6% (11%) 12%

Website/app 21% (14%) 45% (30%) 4%

Figure 16

Q8a) Looking at all the sources of news you have said that you use, which one is most important to you personally? Base: All who use any news source nowadays (16+=2553, AB=532, DE=882) *’Others’ includes sources below 2%

Single most important news source across all adults and selected SEG Over one-fifth (22%) of those in the DE socio-economic group say that ITV1 or its national equivalent is their single most important news source, compared to 5% of those in the AB socio-economic group. Proportion of respondents (%)

28

12

5 5 9

4 3 2 2 2

28 31

5 5 5

13

7 3 2 1 1

27 28

22

4 6

4 1

3 2 4

1

25

0

10

20

30

40

50

BBC One ITV1/ITVWALES/UTV/STV

BBC NewsChannel

Sky NewsChannel

BBCwebsite or

app

BBC Radio4

BBC Radio2

Facebook The Sun BBC Radio1

Others*

All UK AB DE

All UK AB DE

TV channel 54% (62%) 50% 65%

Newspaper 11% 11% 12%

Radio 12% (10%) 14% 9%

Website/app 21% (14%) 24% 12%

2013 all UK %: 5%

34%

Figure 17

Q8a) Looking at all the sources of news you have said that you use, which one is most important to you personally? Base: All who use a news source for news nowadays (2553) Note: This wholesale category is derived from responses given about individual news titles.

Single most personally important news source

Over half (52%) cite a BBC source as their most important news source. This is followed by ITN (13%) and Sky (9%). There have been no shifts since 2013.

Proportion of respondents (%) WHOLESALE 53%

15%

8%

3% 3% 1% 1% 1% 1%

11%

52%

13% 9%

4% 3% 1% 1% 1%

12%

2013 2014

4 Share of references

Share of references

Share of references is a bespoke cross-media metric using our survey data Respondents are asked to list all the news sources which they use and the frequency with which they use them. Each reference to a source is then weighted for frequency and summed. We then calculate the share that each source, or provider, has across all media platforms.

Purpose: • Bespoke metric to incorporate the impact of frequency and multi-sourcing within media providers

and owners cross-platform.

Calculation: 1. Frequency scale figures established for each individual source used ‘nowadays’ 2. Each frequency factored to create new weighted figures 3. Weighted frequency figures summed to create a weighted total 4. All sources summed to create grand total of consumption 5. Proportion of grand total calculated for each source 6. Weighted source totals for each individual source summed and grouped by respective

retailer/wholesaler, i.e. If respondent uses more than one source from a particular retailer/wholesaler it counts each time

7. Proportions for each relevant source summed for providers to create share of references 8. Specific platform proportions of share of references calculated for each provider as well

47%

21% 18%

13%

42%

27%

19%

12%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Television Internet or apps Radio Newspapers

2013 2014

Figure 18

Base: All who use a news source nowadays (2553)

Platform share of references TV has a 42% share of references, down from 47% in 2013. The internet has a 27% share of references, up from 21% in 2013.


Figure 19

Base: All who use a news source nowadays (2553) Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided. Note: This wholesale category is derived from responses given about individual news titles.

Share of references: wholesale level BBC has a 43% share of references, followed by Sky (15%) and ITN (12%). While there have been no statistically significant changes since 2013, Sky now has a higher share of references than ITN.

42%

13% 14%

4% 4% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1%

15%

43%

15% 12%

4% 4% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%2013 2014 WHOLESALE

Figure 20

Base: All who use a news source nowadays (2553) Note: ‘Wholesale’ is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. ‘Retail’ is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided (except the three generic categories ‘commercial radio’, ‘aggregators’ and ‘social media’). Within our sample ‘Other’ included mentions for 37 TV channels (mostly foreign), 157 local newspapers (not DMGT or Trinity Mirror) and 71 websites or apps.

Share of references: retail level At a retail level, the BBC has the largest share (43%), ITV has a 10% share of references, followed by Sky (7%) and commercial radio (7%). There have been no significant movements since 2013.

44%

11% 7% 7%

5% 4% 4% 2% 2% 3% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 5%

43%

10% 7% 7% 5% 4% 4% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1%

5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%2013 2014

RETAIL

5 News consumption on television

Figure 21

Source: BARB, Adults 16+, genre = News generic>national and international news, 4+ regions. Note:S4C excluded from this analysis. Shares are based on national/international news viewing to the listed channels only. Note: BBC One and Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 include HD variants and +1 channels where applicable. Other, include portfolio channels and Euronews, Russia Today and Al Jazeera English. Note: 2009 data based on Network Plus, 2010-2013 data based on Network. New BARB panel introduced 1st Jan 2010. As a result pre and post panel change data must be viewed with caution (see dotted line)

Share of viewing to ‘national and international news’ on television by channel group, UK adults 16+: 2009-2013 BARB data shows that the majority of news viewing on TV is through the BBC channels, and this has increased since 2009. ITV’s share of viewing has declined during this period, while the proportion of viewing to Sky News has remained relatively stable.

Proportion of ‘national and international news’ viewing (%)

59.2% 59.7% 60.6% 62.1% 63.5%

9.0% 12.5% 13.9% 13.0% 12.2% 18.5% 15.9% 13.0% 12.8% 12.9% 4.2% 3.5% 3.3% 3.1% 2.8% 2.4% 1.9% 1.9% 2.1% 1.8% 6.4% 6.2% 6.9% 6.4% 6.4%

0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%

100.0%

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pro

porti

on o

f nat

iona

l/int

l ne

ws

view

ing,

%

Other

Sky News

Channel 5

Channel 4

ITV

BBC News

BBC One andTwo

Total hours per head 114 119 121 115 115

Figure 22

Source: BARB, Adults 16-24, genre = News generic>national and international news, 4+ regions. Note:S4C excluded from this analysis. Shares are based on national/international news viewing to the listed channels only. Note: BBC One and Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 include HD variants and +1 channels where applicable. Other, include portfolio channels and Euronews, Russia Today and Al Jazeera English. Note: 2009 data based on Network Plus, 2010-2013 data based on Network. New BARB panel introduced 1st Jan 2010. As a result pre and post panel change data must be viewed with caution (see dotted line)

Share of viewing to ‘national and international news’ on television by channel group, UK adults 16-24: 2009-2013 Channel 4 is more popular among 16-24s than among the UK population, but BBC One and Two still account for the majority of news viewing. 16-24s watch an average of 27 hours of news compared to the all-UK total of 115 hours. Proportion of ‘national and international news’ viewing (%)

47.6% 51.5% 48.6% 55.1% 55.3%

10.5% 11.2% 16.1% 11.1% 9.9% 23.8% 19.9% 17.3% 17.7% 18.0%

7.2% 7.0% 6.3% 5.8% 5.8% 2.8% 2.4% 2.6% 3.0% 2.6% 6.8% 6.9% 7.8% 5.6% 6.7%

0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%

100.0%

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pro

porti

on o

f nat

iona

l/int

l ne

ws

view

ing,

% Other

Sky NewsChannel 5Channel 4ITVBBC NewsBBC One and Two


Figure 23

Source: BARB, Adults 55+, genre = News generic>national and international news, 4+ regions. Note:S4C excluded from this analysis. Shares are based on national/international news viewing to the listed channels only. Note: BBC One and Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 include HD variants and +1 channels where applicable. Other, include portfolio channels and Euronews, Russia Today and Al Jazeera English. Note: 2009 data based on Network Plus, 2010-2013 data based on Network. New BARB panel introduced 1st Jan 2010. As a result pre and post panel change data must be viewed with caution (see dotted line)

Share of viewing to ‘national and international news’ on television by channel group, UK adults 55+: 2009-2013

The proportion of news viewing across different TV channels by those aged 55+ is in line with the UK average. The total number of hours viewed by those aged 55+ is 196, compared to 115 for all UK. Proportion of ‘national and international news’ viewing (%)

62.3% 62.5% 63.6% 64.2% 66.0%

8.7% 12.1% 13.2% 12.8% 12.3% 17.3% 15.5% 12.9% 13.0% 12.5% 4.0% 2.9% 2.8% 2.5% 2.3% 2.5% 2.1% 2.0% 2.1% 1.8% 4.9% 4.8% 5.2% 5.0% 4.8%

0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%

100.0%

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pro

porti

on o

f nat

iona

l/int

l new

s vi

ewin

g, %

OtherSky NewsChannel 5Channel 4ITVBBC NewsBBC One and Two


Figure 24

Q5a) Thinking specifically about television, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use TV for news (2136) 2013: (2290) Note: only sources with an incidence of 2% or more are shown. * BBC Three was not included on the prompted list in 2013

71%

43%

23%

21%

11%

7%

4%

4%

4%

2%

1%

73%

43%

20%

21%

10%

6%

5%

3%

2%

2%

BBC One

ITV1/ITV WALES/UTV/STV

Sky News Channel

BBC News Channel

Channel 4

BBC Two

Channel 5

Al Jazeera (English version)

BBC Three

CNN

Russia Today

20142013

TV channels used for news ‘nowadays’ Sky News has seen a small increase among those who use TV for news (20% to 23%). BBC One is the most–used TV channel for news (71%), ITV is the next highest (43%).

Proportion of those that use TV for news (75% of UK adults)

*

Figure 25

Q5ai) And typically how often do you watch the news on <Source>? Base: All who use the sources mentioned (base shown with source, only ones over 100 included)

29% 19%

30% 26% 8% 12% 7%

49% 49% 35%

35%

39% 37% 33%

8% 10%

10% 8%

12% 10%

9%

10% 12%

12% 14%

20% 20%

15%

3% 5% 7% 11% 16% 10%

18%

0% 1% 6% 6% 6% 10% 18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

BBC One (1547) ITV1/ITVWALES/UTV/STV

(1029)

BBC NewsChannel (392)

Sky NewsChannel (476)

Channel 4 (218) BBC Two (134) Channel 5 (90)

Less than once aweek/DK

Once a week

2-3 times a week

Most days

Once a day

More than once aday

Frequency of consumption for main TV channels BBC One is the most frequently accessed across all TV news sources – 78% of those who use it for news say they do so once a day or more often.

Proportion of viewers (%)

61%

51%

58%

42%

33%

47%

65%

60%

64%

59%

43%

50%

63%

58%

63%

63%

44%

53%

51%

51%

54%

55%

45%

42%

55%

53%

58%

58%

49%

53%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

BBC Television

ITV

Sky News Channel

Channel 4 (TV Channel)

Channel 5

Al Jazeera

Importance Accurate & Reliable Trustworthy Impartial & unbiased Offers range of opinions

Figure 26

Base: Those who use platform to access the news ‘nowadays’ on each type (varies) – Only includes bases over 50. Note: News sources are ordered by consumption levels.

Attributes for television news sources among those who use each source

Proportion of users who rated the source highly (7-10) (%)

Among users of the most-used TV news outlets, around one half rate them highly across the range of attributes. The perceived importance of Channel 4 and Channel 5 is lower than for other TV channels. TV news outlets are generally rated more highly for accuracy and trustworthiness than for impartiality by their users.

6 News consumption on radio

Figure 27

Q5d) Thinking specifically about radio stations which of the following do you use for news nowadays Base: All who use radio for news (990) Note: only sources with an incidence of 2% or more are shown

Radio stations used for news nowadays Among radio listeners, people are more likely in 2014 to listen to any BBC radio (75% vs 68% in 2013). Four in ten (39%) of radio news listeners use any commercial station. Radio 2 is more likely to be used for news in 2014 (28% vs 23%) while Heart FM is less likely (7% vs 12%).

28%

25%

20%

8%

8%

7%

6%

4%

4%

3%

3%

3%

2%

2%

23%

22%

18%

9%

8%

12%

8%

6%

3%

4%

3%

2%

2%

2%

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 1

Capital FM

BBC Regional (Any)

Heart FM

BBC Radio Five Live

Classic FM

BBC Radio…

Talksport

Absolute Radio

Real Radio

BBC World Service

BBC Radio 3

20142013

Proportion of those that use radio for news (36% of UK adults)

Of those who use either type for news: • 57% use BBC radio only (58%) • 21% use commercial radio only (28%) • 18% use both (15%)

BBC Ulster = 45%

Commercial radio = 39%

Any BBC Radio = 75%

(61%)

(68%)

(43%)

UK-wide BBC Radio = 68% BBC Scotland = 24% BBC Wales/Cymru = 20%

2013 figures in brackets

(16%)

(9%)

(38%)

Figure 28

Base: Those who use platform to access the news ‘nowadays’ on each type (varies) – Only includes bases over 50. Note: News sources are ordered by consumption levels

Attributes for radio news sources among those that use each source


BBC radio news listeners are more likely than commercial radio news listeners to rate its news output highly across the attributes we asked about.

63%

44%

72%

54%

70%

58%

65%

49%

66%

46%

BBC Radio

CommercialRadio


7 News consumption through newspapers

40

0%

20%

40%

60%

80% 65+55-6445-54All adults35-4425-3415-24

Source: National Readership Survey / Kantar Media analysis Note: Data represent the twelve months until March of the stated year. Readership in 2012 may be overstated, as it is not possible to de-duplicate readers of i and other titles due to factoring. Includes the Daily Record and Sunday Mail. Financial Times is no longer measured by NRS and is not included in data for 2014.

Reach of national newspapers, by demographic: April 2004–March 2014

Reach (average issue readership)

Figure 29

The reach of national newspapers has declined considerably in the past ten years, with reach among all adults falling by a quarter (25.1 percentage points) since 2004. Despite fairly stable readership between 2012 and 2013, decline in print readership in the past year has been rapid, particularly among the under-35s. Readership among 15-24s fell by 9.9pp and by 7.8pp among 25-34s.

Figure 30

41

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

News Corp

DMGT

Trinity Mirror

Northern & Shell

Telegraph Media Group

Guardian Media Group

Lebedev

Pearson

Source: National Readership Survey / Kantar Media analysis Note: Data represent the twelve months until March of the stated year. Title grouping is based on current ownership and is not retrospective. Readership of Lebedev titles in 2012 may be overstated, as it is not possible to de-duplicate readers of i and other Lebedev titles due to factoring. Trinity Mirror titles include the Daily Record and Sunday Mail. Pearson’s Financial Times is no longer measured by NRS and is not included in data for 2014

Reach of national newspapers, by media owner: April 2004-March 2014 (7 days)


Almost all publishers have seen their reach decline since 2004, with News Corp and Trinity Mirror seeing the largest decrease in readership. Lebedev’s compact daily, i, has helped increase readership to its titles. After a slight increase in 2013, due to the launch of the Sun on Sunday, News Corp’s readership decreased again in 2014.

Figure 31

42

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

News CorpDMGTTrinity MirrorNorthern & ShellTelegraph Media GroupLebedevGuardian Media GroupPearson

Source: National Readership Survey / Kantar Media analysis Note: Data represent the twelve months until March of the stated year. Title grouping is based on current ownership and is not retrospective. Readership of Lebedev titles in 2012 may be overstated, as it is not possible to de-duplicate readers of i and other titles due to factoring. Trinity Mirror includes the Daily Record. Pearson’s Financial Times is no longer measured by NRS and is not included in data for 2014.

Reach of daily national newspapers, by media owner: April 2004-March 2014 (weekdays)


Readership of daily newspapers has decreased, with News Corp and Trinity Mirror’s tabloid titles accounting for the majority of the fall in readership.

Figure 32

43

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

News CorpDMGTTrinity MirrorNorthern & ShellTelegraph Media GroupGuardian Media GroupLebedev

Source: National Readership Survey / Kantar Media analysis Note: Data represent the twelve months until March of the stated year. Title grouping is based on current ownership and is not retrospective. Trinity Mirror includes the Sunday Mail.

Reach of national newspapers, by media owner: April 2004-March 2014 (Sundays)


The closure of the News of the World in July 2011 led to a significant drop in readership for News Corp’s Sunday titles. Other tabloid publishers experienced a temporary growth in readership at that time.

7,289 6,232

3,621 3,149

2,316 2,094

1,822 1,334 1,299 1,220

902

0 2000 4000 6000 8000

The SunDaily Mail

MetroDaily Mirror

The GuardianThe Daily Telegraph

London Evening StandardThe TimesDaily Star

Daily ExpressThe Independent

Print only Print and website Website only

Figure 33

44

Source: Ofcom analysis of NRS/comScore PADD, March 2013, 2014. NRS average issue readership April– March fused with comScore in March of each year. Note: The Independent 2014 includes print readership of i. *The data above includes only visits from laptop and desktop computers. Smartphone and tablet use is excluded because of Inconsistency of available data across devices and between browser use and application use.

Combined print and online* readership of daily newspapers The combined print and online readership of daily newspapers has fallen year on year, driven by declines in print readership. With print and online combined, the Daily Mail is now the most widely-read news title in the UK, as the gain from its digital-only readers exceeds the print readership of The Sun. Readership (thousands)

5,773 6,032

3,324 2,930

2,071 2,125

1,614 1,191 1,166 1,214 1,327

0 2000 4000 6000 8000

2013 2014

Figure 34

Q5b) Thinking specifically about daily newspapers, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use newspapers for news (1160) * Daily free-sheets are the Metro and the Evening Standard

Daily newspapers used for news nowadays The Sun is the most-read newspaper according to stated consumption. There have been decreases in stated consumption of both of the daily ‘free-sheets’ since 2013. The Guardian has seen the biggest increase (from 5% to 9%). Proportion of those that use newspapers for news (40% of UK adults)

26%

21%

13%

9%

9%

6%

6%

4%

4%

3%

3%

2%

2%

2%

25%

19%

13%

12%

5%

9%

8%

6%

3%

5%

3%

5%

4%

1%

The SunThe Daily Mail

The Daily MirrorThe Metro

The GuardianThe Times

The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Express

The 'i'The Daily Star

The IndependentThe Evening Standard

The Daily RecordThe Financial Times

20142013

2014 2013 “Broadsheet” 24% 24%

Mid-market 25% 24%

“Tabloid” 37% 37%

Local daily 13% 11%

Daily ‘free-sheets’ 10% 13%

Figure 35

Q5c) Thinking specifically about weekly newspapers, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use newspapers for news (1160) Note: only sources with an incidence of 1% or more are shown

13%

12%

6%

6%

4%

3%

3%

2%

13%

12%

7%

7%

5%

3%

2%

3%

The Sun on Sunday

The Mail on Sunday

The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Times

The Sunday Telegraph

The Observer

The People

The Sunday Express

20142013

Weekly newspapers used for news nowadays The Sun on Sunday (13%) and The Mail on Sunday (12%) have the highest reach for news of all the Sunday papers. There have been no significant rises or falls for any individual newspapers since 2013, though there has been a decrease in those saying they use weekly free newspapers for news. Proportion of those who use newspapers for news (40% of UK adults)

2014 2013 Broadsheet 14% 14%

Mid-market 14% 14%

Tabloid 20% 22%

Local weekly paid-for 6% 7%

Local weekly free 3% 6%

Figure 36


Attributes of newspaper sources among those who use each source


Ratings vary across newspaper readers, with broadsheet and local press readers rating their print media sources more highly than other sources for being ‘accurate and reliable’. Local weekly paid-for newspapers are rated highly for importance (72% of users rate them highly)

36%

51%

45%

57%

52%

71%

54%

41%

72%

59%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Sun/Sun on Sunday

Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday

Daily or Sunday Mirror

Your local daily

Times or Sunday Times

Guardian or Observer

Daily or Sunday Telegraph

Metro

Your local paid weekly

Daily or Sunday Express


8 News consumption via the internet

Figure 37

Q5e) Thinking specifically about the internet, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use internet for news (1029) Note: only sources with an incidence of over 3% are shown. Note: ‘Aggregators’ includes Google News, MSN News, Yahoo News, AOL News, Feedly, Flipboard, plus any other sites nominated by respondents. ‘Social media’ includes Facebook and Twitter. ‘Search engines’ include Google and any other search engine nominated by respondents

Websites or apps used for news ‘nowadays’ Three in five (59%) of those who use the internet for news use the BBC website or app - an increase since 2013 (52%). Google news has decreased since 2013, with the removal of Google Reader. Proportion of those that use the internet for news (41% of UK adults)

59%

18%

17%

17%

9%

8%

7%

7%

5%

4%

4%

4%

3%

3%

52% 16%

19%

14%

10%

8%

13%

6%

5%

10%

4%

3%

3% 2%

BBC website or app

Google (search engine)

Facebook

Sky News website or app

Twitter

Daily Mail website or app

Google news

Guardian\Observer…

ITV or ITN website or app

Yahoo news

MSN news

Any local newspaper site

Huffington Post

The Telegraph website…

2014

2013

Google reader ceased in 2013

Aggregators = 15% (25%) Social media = 20% (23%) Search engines = 19% (16%) (2013 figures in brackets)

Figure 38

Q6a) In which types of ways do you access and use news through the internet or apps nowadays? Base: All who use any internet for news nowadays (1029) Base 2013: All who use any internet for news nowadays (857)

Types of ways to access and use news through internet or apps Reading news stories online is still the most common way of accessing news on the internet, at 60%, and is higher than in 2013 (54%). Accessing news through social networking sites has decreased to 23%, lower than in 2013.

8%

3%

16%

20%

18%

27%

54%

10%

10%

14%

20%

21%

23%

60%

Share existing comments orarticles on blogs or social

media

Share existing news relatedvideo clips

Watch news related videoclips

Watch TV news online

Use a search engine to findout about a particular news

story or subject

Read comments or articles onblogs or social media

Read news stories online

4%

2%

4%

3%

2%

4%

6%

5%

1%

2%

3%

3%

3%

5%

6%

6%

Post your own news relatedvideo clips

Use a 'news ticker' or rollingnews across your screen

Watch news podcasts

Subscribe to personalised newsinformation i.e. choosing whichtopics you get information from…

Listen to news podcasts

Post your own news relatedcomments or articles on blogs,social networking sites or apps…

Listen to radio news online

Receive email alerts ornotifications of news

20142013

Figure 39

Q6a) In which types of ways do you access and use news through the internet or apps nowadays? Base: All who use any internet for news nowadays (1029)

Types of ways to access and use news through internet or apps, by age Accessing news through social media (i.e. blogs, social networking) is four times more common among 16-24s than among over-55s (28% v 7%)

4%

4%

4%

12%

17%

23%

7%

62%

5%

6%

6%

12%

21%

25%

28%

54%

6%

10%

10%

14%

20%

21%

23%

60%

Receive email alerts ornotifications of news

Share existing comments orarticles on blogs or social

media

Share existing news relatedvideo clips

Watch news related videoclips

Watch TV news online

Use a search engine to findout about a particular news

story or subject

Read comments or articles onblogs or social media

Read news stories online

0%

2%

2%

1%

2%

0%

5%

2%

2%

4%

5%

2%

6%

8%

1%

2%

3%

3%

3%

5%

6%

Post your own news relatedvideo clips

Use a 'news ticker' or rollingnews across your screen

Watch news podcasts

Subscribe to personalised newsinformation i.e. choosing whichtopics you get information from…

Listen to news podcasts

Post your own news relatedcomments or articles on blogs,social networking sites or apps…

Listen to radio news online

All UK

16-24

55+

(33% in 2103)

Q5e) Thinking specifically about the internet, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use internet for news (1029)

Three in ten (29%) 16-34s who use the internet for news use social media for their news – significantly higher than any other age group. Women are more likely than men to use social media for news (25% vs. 15%)

15% 25%

30% 29%

19% 10%

8% 0% 1%

19% 21%

MaleFemale

16-2425-3435-5445-5455-6465-74

75+

ABC1C2DE

Use of social media for news ‘nowadays’

Proportion of those who use the internet for news (41% of UK adults)

Figure 40

Figure 41


Attributes for website/app sources among those who use each source


In general, website news users are more likely than users of news on other platforms to see their chosen source as offering a ‘range of opinions’ ; this is particularly notable for users of Twitter and Facebook.

61%

48%

62%

42%

56%

58%

59%

53%

65%

54%

66%

55%

40%

64%

67%

57%

BBC website or app

Facebook

Sky News website or app

Twitter

Daily Mail website or app

YouTube

Guardian or Observer website orapp

Google News


Figure 42

54

1,399 1,517 1,601

1,818 1,882 1,960

2,394 2,512

3,086 3,192 3,205 3,242

3,976 4,864

5,154 5,335

8,709 10,253 10,324

11,016

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

THESUN.CO.UK HUFFINGTONPOST.CO.UK*

NBC News Digital EXPRESS.CO.UK

New York Times Digital Sky News

MSN News CNN

Local World Sites METRO.CO.UK

BUZZFEED.COM Johnston Press Plc

Newsquest Media Group INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

MIRROR.CO.UKYahoo!

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK THEGUARDIAN.COM

DAILYMAIL.CO.UKBBC

Source: ComScore, March 2014, Adults 15+. Internet use at work and home, on desktop and laptop only. * Smartphone and tablet use is excluded because of Inconsistency of available data across devices and between browser use and application use. Note: Figures for the BBC and Yahoo! refer to the de-duplicated audience of news-specific sites in their respective reporting categories. Newsquest, Johnston Media and New York Times Digital are aggregate audiences of reporting local titles.

Unique audience* for the top 20 selected news sites in the UK, March 2014

Unique audience (thousands)

News content on bbc.co.uk has the highest unique audience of news websites in the UK. Newspapers’ websites also have a significant number of desktop/laptop users, with the Daily Mail leading, followed closely by The Guardian site and then The Daily Telegraph.

Figure 43

55

28 26 26 22

13 13 12 10 8 8 8 8 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 0

20

40

Source: ComScore, March 2014, Adults 15+. Internet use at work and home, on desktop and laptop only. * Smartphone and tablet use is excluded because of Inconsistency of available data across devices and between browser use and application use. Reach is defined as the proportion of the total online audience aged 15+ who have visited the relevant site at least once in the reporting month. Note: Figures for the BBC and Yahoo! refer to the de-duplicated audience of news-specific sites in their respective reporting categories. Newsquest, Johnston Media and New York Times Digital are aggregate audiences of reporting local titles.

Online PC/laptop reach* for top 20 selected news sites in the UK, March 2014

Reach (%)

The BBC news site has the highest reach, followed closely by the Daily Mail, then The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. Each of these sites were visited by at least a fifth of desktop/laptop users in March 2014.

9 Attitudes towards news topics and reasons for following news

49% 49% 49% 48% 45% 43% 38% 36% 35% 35%

34% 30% 29% 29% 26% 26% 25% 24%

19%

37% 37% 32% 35%

49%

28% 32%

17%

36% 35%

23% 23%

13%

24% 17% 21%

12%

23%

11%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60% Societal importance Personally interested in

Figure 44 Comparison of personal interest and societal importance of news topics People are likely to say that a range of news topics are of societal importance rather than personal interest, with the exception of the weather, sports and local events.

Q1b) Which types of news are you personally interested in? Q1c) Now thinking about everybody in the UK, not just about your own point of view, which types of news do you think are important for people to know about? Base: All adults 16+ in UK (2731)

Figure 45

44%

58% 53% 49%

61%

49% 39%

56% 57%

36% 45%

40% 46%

60% 55%

50%

68% 64%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Any mention of politics Any mention of current affairs Any mention of local/region

All UK Male Female 16-34 35-54 55+

Personal interest in selected types of news, by gender and age

Q1b) Which types of news are you personally interested in? Base: All adults 16+ in England (1641), in Scotland(363), in Wales (359) and in Northern Ireland (351)

Those aged 16-34 are less likely than those aged 35 and over to say they are personally interested in politics. Those aged 55 and over are more likely than any other age group to say they are personally interested in current affairs and local/regional news.

58

58%

56%

49%

46%

42%

35%

32%

31%

24%

22%

22%

15%

15%

6%

To know what's going on around the world

To know what's going on across the UK

To know what's going on in my local area

To know what's going on in respective nations

Because it's important to keep informed about certain issues

For information about daily life, e.g. travel, health, taxes,…

Because it allows me to form opinions on the important…

To get different perspectives on what's happening

Out of habit - it's part of my routine

Because it gives me something to talk about with others

To be knowledgeable for my job\work\studies

Because it provides some fun and entertainment

To pass the time when waiting, commuting or bored

I don't follow news

Q2) Thinking about some of the reasons people might have for following news, which of these reasons apply to you? Base: All adults 16+ in UK (2731 in 2014, 2379 in 2012)

Figure 46 Reasons for following news Close to three in five say they follow the news to know what’s going on in the world or in the UK.

43% 45%

36%

34%

32%

25%

24%

26%

17%

22%

19%

15%

17%

9%

62%

64%

55%

53%

46%

37%

35%

33%

26%

12%

24%

12%

9% 4%

To know what's going on around the world

To know what's going on across the UK

To know what's going on in my local area

To know what's going on in respective nations

Because I feel it s important to keep informed about certain…

For information about daily life, e.g. travel, health, taxes,…

Because it allows me to form opinions on the important issues

To get different perspectives on what's happening

Out of habit - it's part of my routine

To be knowledgeable for my job/work/studies

Because it gives me something to talk about with others

Because it provides some fun and entertainment

To pass the time when I'm waiting/travelling/commuting/bored

I don't follow news

16 - 2455+

Q2) Thinking about some of the reasons people might have for following news, which of these reasons apply to you? Base: All adults 16+ in UK (2731 in 2014, 2379 in 2012)

Figure 47 Reasons for following news: 16-24s vs. over-55s Broadly, the order of reasons for following the news remains broadly similar for 16-24s as for over-55s, although over -55s are more likely to cite the majority of these reasons.

10 Local media use

Figure 48

62

10%

14%

14%

31%

29%

31%

35%

37%

77%

15%

18%

33%

43%

36%

37%

47%

42%

81%

Local community websites/apps

Local news websites/apps

Local magazines (free or paid for)

Free local newspaper

Paid for local newspaper

Local news & information on BBC local radio

Internet for local news information

Local commercial radio

Regional & local news on television

At least monthly At least weekly

Source: Ofcom local media omnibus, 2014 Q.LM03: On average, how frequently do you do each of the following things? Base: All adults aged 15+ (2152). Note: ‘Local’ is defined as “the area in which you live”; ‘regional’ is defined as “your local area and surrounding areas in the wider region”.

Use of local media sources, weekly and monthly

At least weekly use: Any local newspaper – 49% Any local radio – 50% Any local online sources – 39%

At least monthly use: Any local newspaper – 61% Any local radio – 56% Any local online sources – 51%

Regional / local news on television is the most-used local media source, with over three-quarters (77%) using it at least weekly.

Figure 49

63

28 38

31 40

37 26

36 31

20

29 30

36 33

31 30

31 28

26

27 22

23 18

20 27

21 25

33

15 9

10 9

12 16 12

16 20

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Internet for local news informationLocal community websites/apps

Local news websites/appsLocal magazines (free or paid for)

Free local newspaperPaid for local newspaper

Local commercial radioLocal news & information on BBC local radio


1-4 5-6 7-8 9-10

Source: Ofcom local media omnibus, 2014 Q.LM04: How important is <> to you personally? 1= Not at all important to you and you would not miss it if it was no longer available; 10 = Extremely important and you would miss it if it was no longer available Base: All adults aged 15+ who use local media once a month or more.

Personal importance of local media sources As well as being the most frequently used, regional and local news on television is more likely to be considered personally important to regular local media users. The internet is equally as important as BBC local radio and paid-for local newspapers.

Figure 50

64

42

31

32

27

32

43

33

41

53

16

1

2

3

7

9

6

8

40

0% 20% 40% 60%




Local magazine




Local news & information on BBC radio

Regional & local news on television Most importantImportant

Source: Ofcom local media omnibus 2014 LM04: How important are the following types of local media to you? (Scale 1 – 10. Net 7-10 ratings displayed) LM05: And of all the local media sources you use [at least once a month) which one would you say is the most important to you personally? Base: All UK adults 15+ who use all local media once a month or more.

Personal importance of local media

Important Any local online sources – 44% Any local radio – 42% Any local newspaper – 42% Most important Any local online sources – 19% Any local newspaper – 17% Any local radio – 13%

Regional and local news on television is considered to be the most important type of local media by four in ten (40%) regular local news users. ‘Any online sources’ are most important to 16% of regular local news users.

Figure 51

65

14

21

21

22

19

17

18

15

11

33

33

37

39

39

34

40

34

30

36

31

29

27

29

30

27

31

39

16

13

11

12

13

19

14

18

20

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%










1-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 Don't know

Source: Ofcom local media omnibus, 2014 Q.LM07: How satisfied are you with … 10=Extremely satisfied and 1= extremely dissatisfied. Base: All adults aged 15+ who use local media once a month or more

Satisfaction with local media sources Local media users are most satisfied with regional and local news on television, with six in ten (59%) regular local media users rating TV between 7 and 10 out of 10.

Figure 52

66

42

31

32

27

32

43

33

41

53

51

44

40

39

42

49

41

49

59

0% 20% 40% 60%




Local magazine




Local news & information on BBC radio

Regional & local news on television Satisfied

Important

Source: Ofcom local media omnibus 2014 LM04: How important are the following types of local media to you? (Scale 1 – 10. Net 7-10 ratings displayed) LM07: How satisfied are you with the following types of local media? (Scale 1 – 10. Net 7-10 ratings displayed) Base: All UK adults 15+ who use all local media once a month or more.

Importance and satisfaction of local media

Important (7-10) Any local online sources – 44% Any local radio – 42% Any local newspaper – 42% Satisfied (7-10) Any local online sources – 53% Any local newspaper – 49% Any local radio – 50%

Local media users are most likely to be satisfied with regional and local news on television, and rate it as more important than other sources.

Figure 53

67

9

7

11

15

17

19

15

11

12

48

44

43

17

18

15

22

22

20

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%





'Free’ local newspaper - print

‘Paid for’ local newspaper - print




Use more than 2 years ago Use less than 2 years ago

Source: Ofcom local media omnibus, 2014 Q.LM08: Compared to two years ago, would you say you are currently using local media sources more, less or about the same amount? Base: All adults aged 15+ who use local media once a month or more

Changing use of local media Almost half of those who say they use local media say they use the internet for local news information now more than they did two years ago. Over one in five (22%) say they use radio more than they did two years ago.

% UK England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland

Base 2152 1706 195 141 110 Regional and local news on television 77 76 84 82 77 Local commercial radio 37 36 39 40 52 Internet for local news information 35 35 35 35 43 Local news and information on BBC local radio 31 30 39 23 50 Paid-for local newspaper 29 26 45 35 42 Free local newspaper 31 36 15 15 7

Local magazines (free or paid) 14 15 10 11 5 Local news websites/apps 14 13 18 12 17 Local community websites/apps 10 10 14 2 11

Figure 54 Weekly use of local media sources in the nations

Source: Ofcom local media omnibus, 2014. Q.LM03 Square box indicates statistically significant difference to UK findings

Weekly use of local media sources varies across the nations. People in Scotland are more likely to use regional/local news on TV on a weekly basis than the UK average. People in Scotland and Northern Ireland are more likely to use BBC local radio and paid-for local newspapers, and less likely to use free local newspapers than the UK average, along with people in Wales.

11 News consumption in the nations

Figure 55

70

3%

5%

8%

24%

15%

28%

27%

44%

45%

86%

4%

4%

11%

13%

10%

18%

24%

36%

39%

81%

6%

5%

8%

11%

13%

20%

24%

33%

46%

75%

4%

5%

10%

11%

13%

21%

25%

36%

39%

75%


Magazines

Internet or apps on a desktopcomputer

Word of mouth

Internet or apps on tablet


Internet or apps oncomputer/laptop/netbook

Radio

Newspapers

TelevisionEngland

Scotland

Wales

N Ireland

Q3a) Which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base 2014: All adults 16+ who follow the news (2731), England (1641); Scotland (363); Wales (376); NI (351) Base 2013: All adults 16+ who follow the news (2862), England (1764), Scotland (361), Wales (385), NI (352) * 2013 figures only shown where there are statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014

Platforms used for news ‘nowadays’, by nation People in Northern Ireland are more likely to use TV, radio, online sources and word of mouth than across the UK as a whole. Nearly half of all people in Scotland and Northern Ireland (46% and 45%) use newspapers for news. A quarter (24%) of people in Northern Ireland use word of mouth for news.

Any of the 4 main platforms

Internet on any device

England 94% 42% (↑31%)

Scotland 93% 38% (↑29%)

Wales 95% 39%

N Ireland 98% 43%

↓(89%)

(2013 figures in brackets)*

↓(55%)

↑(13%) ↑(14%)

↓(36%)

↓(10%)

↓(9%)

Figure 56

Q5a) Thinking specifically about < >, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base 2014: All who use each news source (TV=2136, Newspapers=1160, Radio=990, Internet=1029). Base 2013: All who use each news source (TV=2033, Newspapers=1215, Radio=1198, Internet=926).

Average number of news sources used nowadays per platform, by nation


England = 2.0 Scotland = 2.0 Wales = 2.1 N Ireland = 2.2




England = 3.8 Scotland = 3.9 Wales = 4 Northern Ireland = 4.6

Adults in Northern Ireland use more news sources on average (4.6) than in the other nations.

(3.6) (3.9) (4) (5.2)

(1.9) (1.8)

(2.0) (2.2) (2.7)

(2.0) (2.3) (2.0) (1.4)

(1.3) (1.4)

(1.5)

(1.8) (1.9)

(2.2) (2.4)

(2013 figures in brackets)

Figure 57

52

13 9

3 4 1 1 1

12

53

13 9

3 4 2 1 1 1

12

46

16

8 2 2 1 1 2

15

53

15 9

1 2 1 2

12

47

22

7 1 3 1 1

16

0

20

40

60

UK England Scotland Wales N IrelandBase: All who use a news source nowadays in England (1538), Scotland (339), Wales (359) and Northern Ireland (344) Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided. Note: 2013 figures are in brackets, and shown where statistically different to 2014. Note: This wholesale category is derived from responses given about individual news titles.

Single most personally important news source, by nation People in Scotland are less likely than the UK as a whole to rate a BBC source as their most important news source (46% vs. 52% UK average). People in Northern Ireland are more likely to rate an ITN source as their most important news source. Cross-platform reach (%) WHOLESALE

↓(23%) ↑(9%)

Figure 58

6.8 7.5

6.9 7.3

6.2 6.7

6.1 6.7 6.6 6.6 6.3

6.8 6.7 6.7 6.4

7.3 7.2 7.2 6.3

7.3

0

2

4

6

8

England Scotland Wales N Ireland

Television Newspapers Radio Internet (computer) Internet (mobile)Q3b Looking at the ways you say you use news nowadays, how important are the following to you personally when using news? Answer using a scale of 1 to 10, where, 1 is not at all important and 10 is absolutely essential. Base: All adults 16+ who use platform for news nowadays (TV/Newspapers/radio/internet(computer)/Internet(mobile)) in England (1238/663/570/391/317), Scotland (282/177/122/80/62), Wales (310/153/130/88), N Ireland (306/167/168/87) * In 2013 Iinternet (computer) included tablet. In 2014 this was split out as a separate code, but bases too low (under 50) in non-English nations to analyse

Mean importance of platforms among users of each platform, by nation TV is considered of relatively higher importance for news among its users in Scotland and Northern Ireland than in England and Wales.

2013 figures 7.3 6.7 6.9 * 6.9 7.1 7.0 6.6 * 7.4 7.0 6.7 6.9 * 7.1 7.7 6.7 7.0 * 7.2

Figure 59

42%

12%

19%

27%

42%

11%

20%

27%

44%

14% 17%

25%

45%

11%

20% 24%

41%

13%

20%

26%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Television Newspapers Radio Internet

UK England Scotland Wales N IrelandBase 2014: All who use a news source nowadays in UK (2580) England (1538), Scotland (339), Wales (359) and Northern Ireland (344) Base 2013: All who use a news source nowadays in UK (2661) England (1618), Scotland (328), Wales (366) and Northern Ireland (349). Note: 2013 figures only shown where there are statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014

Platform share of references, by nation The increase in the share of references for the internet since 2013 (27% vs 21% in 2013) is driven by England and Scotland. TV share in England is lower in 2014 (42%) than in 2013 (48%).


↓(47%)

2013 figures

↑(21%)

↓(48%)

↑(21%) ↑(18%)

Figure 60

43

15 12

4 4 2 1 1 1 1 0

16

44

15 12

4 3 2 2 1 1 1 0

16

44

15 12

4 3 2 2 1 1 1 0

16

44

14 13

4 3 3 1 1 0 0 0

17

39

12 17

3 2 3 1 1 1 0 0

20

0

20

40

60

BBC Sky ITN DMGT News Corp TrinityMirror

GuardianMediaGroup

Northern &Shell

TelegraphMedia

LebedevFoundation

Pearson Other

UK England Scotland Wales N IrelandBase: All who use a news source nowadays in England (1538), Scotland (339), Wales (359) and Northern Ireland (344) 2013: England (1618), Scotland (328), Wales (366) and Northern Ireland (349) Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided. Note: 2013 figures only shown where there are statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014. Note: This wholesale category is derived from responses given about individual news titles.

Share of references, by nation Trinity Mirror’s share of references in Scotland decreased from 6% in 2013 to 2% in 2014. Share of references is generally even across the nations, with the exception of ITN’s position in Northern Ireland.

WHOLESALE

Share of references (%)


↓(6%)

43

10 7 4 4

7 2 2 2 2

5 3 1 1 1 0 6

44

9 8 3 4

7 2 2 2 1

5 3 2 1 1 0 6

42

13 6

3 2 7

3 2 2 2 6

1 2 1 1 0

8

43

12 8

3 4 6 3 2 1 1

8 2 1 0 0 0

6

39

15

6 2 3

7 3 2 2 1

7 1 1 0 1 0

11

0

20

40

60

UK England Scotland Wales N Ireland

Share of references (%) RETAIL

Figure 61

Base: All who use a news source nowadays in England (1538), Scotland (339), Wales (359) and Northern Ireland (344) Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided (except the three generic categories ‘commercial radio’, ‘aggregators’ and ‘social media’). Note: 2013 figures only shown where there are statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014

Share of references, by nation The distribution of share of references is generally even across the nations, although alternative providers i.e. those included in ‘Other’, gain a higher share in Northern Ireland than England and Wales. Trinity Mirror’s share of reference in Scotland is lower than in 2013.

↓(7%)

↓


Figure 62

80

40

17

30

4

18

9 4 6 5

1

39

79

38

17

30

4

19

8 4 6 5

1

37

80

49

17

27

5 13 14

3 6 4 1

43

83

47

17

36

5

16 16

3 5 4 0

40

85

66

17

27

2

14 12 5 5

1 1

60

0

20

40

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100

BBC ITN News Corp Sky Northern &Shell

DMGT Trinity Mirror TelegraphMedia

GuardianMediaGroup

LebedevFoundation

Pearson Other

UK England Scotland Wales N IrelandBase 2014: All who use a news source nowadays in England (1538), Scotland (339), Wales (359) and Northern Ireland (344); 2013: England (1618), Scotland (328), Wales (366) and Northern Ireland (349). Note: Wholesale is classified as the company that provides the news for the given source. Retail is classified as the branded title/service through which the news is provided. Note: This wholesale category is derived from responses given about individual news titles.

Cross-platform audience reach, by nation BBC (80%) and ITN (49%) reach is higher in Scotland in 2014 than in 2013 (73% and 39%). The reach of Trinity Mirror decreased in Scotland from 27% in 2013 to 14% in 2014.

Cross-platform reach (%) WHOLESALE ↑(73%)


↑(39%)

↓(27%)

Figure 63

44%

58% 53%

44%

58% 50% 52%

63% 71%

32%

54% 60%

51%

68% 78%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Any mention of politics Any mention of current affairs Any mention of local/region

All UK England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland

Personal interest in selected news topics, by nation

Q1b) Which types of news are you personally interested in? Base: All adults 16+ in England (1641), in Scotland(363), in Wales (359) and in Northern Ireland (351)

People in Northern Ireland and Scotland are more likely than people in England and Wales to say they are personally interested in politics and local/regional news. People in Northern Ireland are also more likely than other nations to be interested in current affairs topics.

78

The weather is the news topic of most personal interest to people in England and is of more personal interest than societal importance. Most news topics are considered to be more societally important than personally interesting.

49%

35%

23%

34%

18%

33%

13%

28% 34%

45% 35%

24%

35% 36%

49%

28%

43% 48%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%

Personally interested in Societal importance

Higher personal interest

Equal social and personal

importance

Higher social importance (Top five, by difference)

Q1b) Which types of news are you personally interested in? Q1c) Now thinking about everybody in the UK, not just about your own point of view, which types of news do you think are important for people to know about? Base: All adults 16+ in England (1641)

Figure 64 Personal interest versus social importance: England

48% 42%

35%

16%

38%

13%

37% 30%

44% 36% 34%

39%

59%

32%

55% 48%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Personally interested in

Societal importance

In addition to the weather, local events are of more personal interest than societal importance.



importance


Figure 65 Personal interest versus social importance: Scotland

Q1b) Which types of news are you personally interested in? Q1c) Now thinking about everybody in the UK, not just about your own point of view, which types of news do you think are important for people to know about? Base: All adults 16+ in Scotland(363)

58%

40% 36% 34% 23%

9% 17%

12%

25% 17%

46%

30% 30% 30%

18%

34% 35% 28%

39% 31%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%


People in Wales are more likely to be personally interested in a range of news topics.



Figure 66 Personal interest versus social importance: Wales

Q1b) Which types of news are you personally interested in? Q1c) Now thinking about everybody in the UK, not just about your own point of view, which types of news do you think are important for people to know about? Base: All adults 16+ in Wales (376)

58%

44% 47%

17%

34% 27%

12% 16%

39% 38% 46%

52%

68% 61%

44% 47%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%


In addition to the weather, politics in Northern Ireland is also of more personal interest than societal importance.



Figure 67 Personal interest versus social importance: Northern Ireland


importance

Q1b) Which types of news are you personally interested in? Q1c) Now thinking about everybody in the UK, not just about your own point of view, which types of news do you think are important for people to know about? Base: All adults 16+ in Northern Ireland (351)

Figure 68

5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 6% 6% 8% 8% 9% 9% 9% 10% 10% 10%

17% 17%

24% 31%

52%

BBC TwoAny local daily newspaper

The Daily MirrorThe Mail on SundayThe Sun on Sunday

Other radio station(s) e.g. local or foreign onesFacebook

Sky News website or appBBC Radio 1

Channel 4Google (General search Engine)

The Daily MailBBC Radio 4BBC Radio 2

The SunBBC News ChannelSky News Channel

BBC website or appITV1/ITV WALES/UTV/STV

BBC One

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults in England (2014 – 1641, 2013 - 1764). 2013 figures shown where statistically different to 2014.

Top 20 news sources by reach: England 52% of adults in England use BBC One for news, a decrease since 2013 (56%). Use of the BBC website or app has increased from 16% to 24%.

TV channel

Newspaper

Radio station

Website / app

% of all adults in England (42.4 million) 2013 ↓56%

↑16%

↑8% ↑8%

↑5% ↑6% ↑4%

↑4%

2013

↑14%

↓17%

↓13%

↓14%

Figure 69

4% 4% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%

7% 7% 7% 8% 9% 9%

10% 13% 13%

16% 24%

37% 55%

The Sun on SundayThe Sunday Mail

STV Website or appThe Sunday Post

BBC TwoBBC Radio 1BBC Radio 4

FacebookOther radio station(s) e.g. local or foreign ones

The Daily MailBBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio 2Channel 4

The Daily RecordThe Sun

BBC News ChannelSky News Channel

BBC website or appSTV

BBC One

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults in Scotland (2014 – 363, 2013 - 361 ). 2013 figures shown where statistically different to 2014.

Top 20 news sources by reach: Scotland Over half of adults in Scotland use BBC One for news. This is followed by STV (37%) and the BBC website or app (24%). Use of the BBC website or app has increased since 2013 (24% v 14%).

TV channel

Newspaper

Radio station

Website / app

% of all adults in Scotland (4.3 million)

2013

↑3%

↓10%

Figure 70

4% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 6% 6%

7% 7%

8% 9% 10%

11% 12%

13% 20%

23% 42%

61%

The Sun on SundayReal Radio

BBC TwoS4C

The Mail on SundayAny local daily newspaperSky News website or app

Google (General search Engine)BBC Radio Wales or Cymru

The Daily MirrorBBC Radio 1

The Daily MailFacebook

BBC News ChannelThe Sun

BBC Radio 2BBC website or appSky News Channel

ITV WALESBBC One

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults in Wales (2014 – 376, 2013 - 385). 2013 figures shown where statistically different to 2014.

Top 20 news sources by reach: Wales 61% of adults in Wales use BBC One for news. This is followed by ITV Wales (42%) and the Sky News Channel (23%). Use of local dailies has decreased since 2013 (10% to 5%)

TV Channel

Newspaper

Radio Station

Website / app

% of all adults in Wales (2.5 million)

2013

↓22% ↑6%

↓16% ↓19%

↓15%

↓11% ↓12%

Figure 71

6% 6% 6% 7% 7% 7% 8% 8% 9% 9% 10% 10% 10% 11%

14% 20% 20%

28% 56%

65%

BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 1

The Daily MailRTE Channels\TG3\TG4

TwitterCool FM

The Irish NewsSky News website or app

The SunThe Daily Mirror

The Belfast TelegraphBBC News Channel

FacebookChannel 4

Other radio station(s) e.g. local or foreign onesBBC Radio Ulster

Sky News ChannelBBC website or app

UTVBBC One

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All adults in Northern Ireland (351). 2013 figures shown where statistically different to 2014.

Top 20 news sources by reach: Northern Ireland 65% of adults in Northern Ireland use BBC One for news. This is followed by UTV (56%) and the BBC website/ app (28%). ‘Other radio stations’ has decreased since 2013 (22% to 14%)

TV Channel

Newspaper

Radio Station

Website / app

% of all adults in Northern Ireland (1.4 million)

Figure 72

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use TV for news

TV channels used for news, by nation BBC One is the most-used TV channel for news in all of the UK nations. UTV in Northern Ireland is used by two-thirds of TV news viewers. England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 1238 282 310 306 BBC One 70% 73% 75% 76% BBC Two 7% 6% 6% 3% BBC Three 4% 4% 3% 1% ITV1/ITV WALES/UTV/STV 41% 49% 52% 66% Channel 4 11% 12% 5% 12% S4C - - 6% - Channel 5 4% 4% 5% 3% RTE Channels\TG3\TG4 - - - 8% Sky News Channel 22% 21% 29% 23% BBC News Channel 22% 18% 14% 12% CNN 2% 2% 1% 2% Fox News 1% 1% 1% 1% CNBC * 1% * 1% Euronews (English version) 1% 1% 1% - Al Jazeera (English version) 4% 4% 3% 3% Russia Today 1% 1% * 3% BBC Parliament 1% 2% 1% 1% Other channel(s) 1% 1% 2% 1% Figures in red are significantly different to those in purple. Figures in green are significantly different from those in red and purple. Figures in black are not statistically significant differences. Applies to rows only.

Figure 73

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use newspapers for news

UK-wide daily newspapers used for news, by nation The Sun is the most-used UK-wide newspaper for news in all of the nations except Northern Ireland, where the Daily Mirror is also used by one in five newspaper readers.

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 663 177 153 167 The Sun 26% 27% 30% 20% The Daily Mail 22% 16% 24% 14% The Daily Star 3% 5% 7% 3% The Daily Express 4% 6% 4% 1% The Daily Mirror 13% 2% 18% 21%a

The Guardian 10% 7% 8% 3% The Independent 3% 2% 4% 1% The 'i' 4% 3% 3% - The Times 6% 3% 7% 6% The Daily Telegraph 6% 4% 3% 6% The Financial Times 2% 1% 1% 1% The Morning Star * - 1% -

Figures in red are significantly different to those in purple. Figures in green are significantly different from those in red and purple. Figures in black are not statistically significant differences. Applies to rows only. a This figure is significantly different from England and Scotland, but not Wales

Figure 74


National and regional daily newspapers used for news, by nation Over one in five (22%) of those who use newspapers for news in Scotland use the Daily Record. The same proportion of those in Northern Ireland use the Belfast Telegraph for news.

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 663 177 153 167 The Herald - 5% - - The Scotsman - 4% - - The Daily Record - 22% - - The Belfast Telegraph - - - 22% The Irish News - - - 17% The News Letter - - - 7% The Western Mail - - 9% - The Daily Post - Wales * - 8% - The South Wales Evening Post - - 5% - The Metro 11% 5% 3% - The Evening Standard 3% - 2% - The Press and Journal (Aberdeen) - 9% - - The Courier and Advertiser (Dundee) - 9% - - Any local daily newspaper 13% 7% 13% 10%

Figures in red are significantly different to those in purple. Figures in green are significantly different from those in red and purple. Figures in black are not statistically significant differences. Applies to rows only.

Figure 75


UK-wide weekly newspapers used for news, by nation

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 663 177 153 167 The Sun on Sunday 14% 10% 11% 7% The Mail on Sunday 14% 5% 12%a 7% The Daily Star on Sunday 1% * 1% 1% The Sunday Express 2% 2% 2% - The Sunday Mirror 6% * 11% 10% The Observer 4% 4% 2% 2% The Independent on Sunday 2% - 1% - The Sunday Times 6% 3% 3% 12% The Sunday Telegraph 4% 3% 1% 3% The People 3% 1% 4% 2%


a This figure is also significantly different from Scotland, but not Northern Ireland

Those who use newspapers for news in England are more likely than those in Scotland and Northern Ireland to use The Mail on Sunday. The Sun on Sunday is more likely to be used by those in England than those in Northern Ireland.

Figure 76

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source> which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use newspapers for news

National and regional weekly newspapers used for news, by nation 5% of those who use newspapers for news in Wales use a local free weekly paper – more than in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 663 177 153 167 The Sunday Herald - 2% - - The Sunday Post - 10% - - The Sunday Mail - 10% - - Scotland on Sunday - 1% - - Wales on Sunday - - 2% - Sunday Life - - - 10% Sunday World - - - 8% Any local paid weekly paper 5% 6% 8% 7% Any local free weekly newspaper 3% 1% 5% -


Figure 77

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use radio stations for news

Radio stations used for news, by nation

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 570 122 130 168 BBC Radio 4 27% 16% 10% 14% BBC Radio 3 3% 1% - 1% BBC Radio 2 28% 26% 35% 14% BBC Radio 1 21% 15% 23% 14% BBC Asian Network 1% - - - BBC Radio Five Live 7% 3% 2% 7% BBC World Service 3% 1% - 3% Classic FM 4% 6% 3% 3% Talksport 3% 4% 2% 5% Heart FM 8% - 6% - Absolute Radio 3% 2% 2% - Capital FM 8% 9% 11% 1% Real Radio 3% 8% 13% - BBC Radio Scotland / BBC Radio Wales or Cymru / BBC Radio Ulster * 24% 20% 45% Any BBC local\regional radio station 9% 3% 2% 3%


BBC Radio 4 is more likely to be used as a source of news in England than in any other nation. Radio Ulster is more likely to be used for news than the equivalent BBC nations’ radio stations in Scotland and Wales.

Figure 78

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source> which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use internet for news.

TV and newspaper internet sources used for news, by nation

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 641 121 137 130 BBC website or app 58% 65% 53% 64% ITV or ITN website or app 5% 2% 7% 3% STV Website or app - 12% - - UTV Website or app - - - 14% Channel 4 website or app 1% - 1% 3% Sky News website or app 18% 11% 15% 18% CNN Website or app 1% 1% 1% 2% The Sun website or app 2% 1% * 2% The Daily Mail website or app 8% 5% 7% 13% The Daily Star website or app * 1% 1% - The Daily Express website or app 1% - * - The Daily Mirror website or app 1% 2% 1% 1% The Guardian\Observer website or app 7% 8% 8% 8% The Independent website or app 2% 3% 1% 1% The Times\Sunday Times website or app 1% - * - The Telegraph website or app 3% 2% 5% 3% The Financial Times website or app 1% 2% 1% 1% The Metro website or app 2% 1% 2% - The Evening Standard website or app * 1% - - The New York Times website or app 1% 2% - 2%


Internet news users across the nations are most likely to use the BBC website or app as a source for news, followed by the Sky News website or app (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). The STV website/app is second to the BBC in Scotland.

Figure 79

Q5a-e) Thinking specifically about <Source>, which of the following do you use for news nowadays? Base: All who use internet for news.

Other internet sources used for news, by nation

England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Unweighted base 641 121 137 130 Facebook 16% 19% 26% 24% Twitter 9% 8% 11% 17% Google News (search engine just for news) 7% 5% 7% 10% Yahoo news 4% 5% 9% 5% MSN news 4% 2% 4% 3% AOL news 1% 1% - 1% YouTube 8% 12% 8% 7% Feedly app - - * - Flipboard app 2% 3% 3% 2% Google (General search Engine) 21% 3% 15% 6% Other general search engine * - - - Other search engine just for news - - 1% - Huffington Post 3% 5% 5% 3% Any local newspaper websites or apps 4% 2% 2% 2% Any Scotland based websites or apps - 4% - - Any Wales based news websites or apps - - 8% - Any Northern Ireland based news websites or apps - - - 7% Other site that combines news links 1% 1% - - Other website(s) or app(s) 5% 4% 3% 3%


Internet news users in Wales and Northern Ireland are more likely than those in England and Scotland to use Facebook for news. Google is more likely to be used for news by people in England and Wales than by those in Scotland or Northern Ireland.