NDM case study: How has news changed?

Ofcom report into news consumption 2015

1) Notes

• Nine in ten adults in the UK (89%) say that they follow news
• Television is by far the most-used platform for news, with 67% of UK adults saying they use TV as a source of news. However, there has been an eight percentage point decrease since 2014 (75%), following a three percentage point decrease between 2013 (78%) and 2014 .
• Looking within each platform at the different sources of news people might use, the number of people who use just one source remained at a similar level to 2014; 44% of TV users said they used just one source (42% in 2014) compared with 43% of internet users (45% in 2014), 34% for newspapers (35% in 2014) and 60% for radio (62% in 2014)
• The top two news sources, in terms of reach among UK adults, are both TV channels. BBC One is by far the most-used (at 48%), followed by ITV/ ITV Wales/ UTV/ STV News, wiith just over a quarter (27%) of people saying they use it as a source of news. BBC One has had a five percentage point decrease in reach since 2014 (53%).
• People aged 16-24 each watched just 25 hours of news on television in 2014, compared to 189 hours for those aged 55 and over.
• More than seven in ten (72%) adults who use television for news use BBC One, a figure largely unchanged since 2014 (71%) and 2013
• According to NRS figures, the reach of national newspapers has declined considerably in the past ten years, with reach among adults falling by 27 percentage points since 2005 (from 72.4% of all adults in 2005 to 45.4% in 2015)
• When print and online readership is combined, the Daily Mail is the most widely-read news title in the UK, with around 5.5 million users.
• Four in ten (41%) UK adults say they use the internet for news. Six in ten (59%) UK adults aged 16-24 say they use the internet or apps for news, compared to just under a quarter (23%) of those aged 55+. Over half (53%) of those in the ABC1 socio-economic group use online sources for news, compared to a third (32%) of those in the C2DE socio-economic group. Men are more likely than women to say they use internet for news (45% vs. 37%). 

2) The most popular platform for the audience to access news is from television. 67% of the UK adults use TV as their main source of news. However, since 2013 there has been an 11% decrease which meant that in 2013, 78% of the adults would consume their news on TV. 

3) People that are aged 55+ would consume their news on either TV, radio or on the newspaper; They would hardly ever use the internet for looking up the news. 86% of those who are aged 55+ would look up the news on TV. 44% of them would look up the newspaper, 37% would use the radio and 23% would view the news on the internet. 

In comparison, the majority of the users that are aged between 16-24 would look at the news via the internet. 51% of the audience in this age category would look at the news on TV, 21% would look at the news on the newspaper, 23% on the radio and 59% on the internet or other technology devices. As you can see, there is a great comparison between the younger and older audience; the majority of young users would use the internet to get their news and the older audience would either use the newspaper or TV to check the news.

4) As shown in the document, people in the AB socio-economic group are more likely to consume the news in those four categories than those in the DE socio-economic group:    TV (71% vs 67%), the internet (50% vs 29%), newspapers (38% vs 26%) and the radio (46% vs 23%).

5) In comparison to 2014, there isn't a huge change in the amount of users that use different sources of media: 44% of the users use TV (42% in 2014), 43% of internet users (45% in 2014), 34% of newspaper users (35% in 2014) and 60% for radio (62% in 2014). As you can see, there is a difference between 2016 and 2014 in every platform whether it is going up or down. 

In addition, the two top main sources of TV in the UK are BBC and ITV. BBC One is the most used sources for news (48%) which is then followed by ITV at 27%. As you can see, BBC One is leading the race by a long-shot. This is mainly due to the fact that the BBC is seemed to be more reliable and trustworthy as it is also controlled by the government who give a balanced point and a good amount of stories to look at.

6) From 2013, we have seen the total hours of national and international news viewing decrease. In 2014, each adult had watched an estimate of 108 hours of national and international news. However, these statistics were a decease from the previous year (2013). In 2013, we saw that the average number of hours was 115 and this was another 13 hour decrease from 2011.

7) Since 2005, the consumption in newspapers has dropped massively. The decrease in the past 10 years had lead to a 27% decrease. 72.4% of adults would consume news from newspapers but this has now dropped to 45.4% (2015).

8) Since 2014, the average number of users that read the newspapers hasn't really changed over the years (48.1% in 2014). However, there is a big difference within the age of the audience; 29.3% of the audience that are aged between 15-24 read newspapers compared to the 67.9% of users that are aged 65+.

9) In the newspapers and online print platforms, the most successful industry is the Daily Mail. Alongside the Daily Mail, their rivals are the Sun. Online, the Sun would charge the audience to view their content where as the Daily Mail allow their audience to read their articles for free.

10) In terms of age, 41% of UK adults use the internet for news compared to the 59% of adults aged between 16-24 that use the internet for news. Also, 23% of 55+ year old also use the internet. Furthermore, in the socio-economic group of ABC1, 53% use online sources for news compared to the 32% of those in the C2DE socio-economic group. Also, more men consume the news through the internet than what women do (45% vs 37%).

11) Around 43% respondents said that they use social media sites to consume the news. The audience that lies in the DE socio economic group will most likely use these particular social media sites that the audience in the AB category (52% vs 40%). In addition, around 61% of those that are aged between 16-24 would also use these sites too.

12) 10% of users are researched to find their news on social media sites ONLY.

13) The most popular sites online which people would use to look at the news is the Daily Mail and the Sun as said before. The Daily Mail would let the users view the content for free but the Sun charge.

14) 61% of users aged between 16-24 use the internet for news and view their news on social media sites too. Roughly, 16% of those 61% only use the social media sites for the news.

15) More than a third of online news users say the go to the homepage of a news provider by using an app (36%). In addition, 28% say they often go to news story's via links that have been shared on social media websites.

New/Digital Media: Audience and Institution

16) One of the main benefits from the changes in new and digital media on news industries for the audience is the online sources. Nowadays, the big news companies such as the Daily Mail have started to use the internet to share the news. This is beneficial to the younger audience as they are the ones who use the internet more than the older audience; When they are travelling on the way to work or school, they could go onto these internet apps and use it whenever they want. Another benefit is that it's usually free and no need to find the actual newspaper because it will be on your phone or tablet etc.

17) The larger news industries will have a great benefit from the result of news and digital media. For example, the Daily Mail is a the largest news industry in the UK. Since the Daily Mail has got it's new online source, this will attract a larger audience and therefore more people would start to read the daily mail because of the fact it is making more people aware. The audience can become aware from different social media sites, where people they may know might share links from the Daily Mail and onto that specific social media site.

18) One of the downsides for an online source for news is that it may not be protected; anyone can write up their article and will not be checked which can lead to it not be censored etc. Another downside is that if the audiences are more interested in the Sun, they would have to pay to view the Sun online as it has it's own paywall and therefore, people would have to keep reading the newspapers as it is cheaper and free.

19) The downsides for the industries is that they will be losing out on a lot of sales due to the fact that NDM has taken over. Since there is a decline in print, less people would like to read the newspapers and more of the audience like to read the news online. Therefore, this would be leading to a waste of money for the industry as they still print of newspapers which hardly make any sales.

20) In my opinion, I believe that the audience have benefited the most from the changes in news and digital media. One of the main reasons I believe that the audience has benefited the most is because of the fact that it's more accessible rather than having to get the actual news via print. Since there has been a massive change over the past 20 years, more and more users have started to use social media sites to find the news. This is very beneficial because these users are already on these social media sites, talking to their friends and this is just another way in which the news can be shown. Another benefit is that it is more cheaper than having to buy the print version and sometimes, it can be free so therefore, for the younger audience, I believe that this is much better.