10 October 2006

Europeans Spend More Time On Net Than Reading Newspapers

Europeans now spend more time online than reading newspapers and magazines, creating an important landmark for the establishment of the Internet in media, according to a report.

European Internet users now spend an average of four hours per week online, compared to just two hours in 2003. Time spent on newspapers and magazines is just three hours. This trend has helped drive an increase in overall media consumption to 19 hours per week, up from 15 hours in 2003. TV continues to dominate media consumption with Europeans spending three times as much time watching TV as going online, according to a report by market research company JupiterResearch.

"The fact that Internet consumption has passed print consumption is an important landmark for the establishment of the Internet in the European media mix," says Mark Mulligan, Vice President & Research Director at JupiterResearch. "This shift in the balance of power will increasingly shape content distribution strategies, advertising spend allocation and communication strategies in the European arena."

European media consumption trends are underpinned by two key factors: age and broadband access. Younger consumers exhibit a propensity to consume media online whereas older consumers lean more towards traditional print media. The strong growth of broadband has been key in shaping the media consumption landscape: broadband users spend more than three times as many hours a week online than dial-up users. The impact of broadband is also seen at a country level: France, which has the highest rates of broadband household access, also registers the highest average hours spent online whereas Germany ranks lowest on both metrics.