European internet users’ time spent online has overtaken that spent reading newspapers and magazines, according to a new report from JupiterResearch.
The report shows that European users now spend an average of four hours per week online, compared with just two hours in 2003, while time spent on newspapers and magazines is just three hours.
JupiterResearch says that this trend has helped to drive an increase in overall media consumption to 19 hours per week, an increase on the 15 hours recorded in 2003.
Europeans spend three times as much time watching TV as going online, says the report, with TV viewing continuing to dominate media consumption.
However, at the recent MediaTel Group ‘Future Of TV’ seminar, one of the issues raised was the huge increase in consumers going online to video rich websites and the threat this could pose to UK broadcasters (see Rise In Broadband Could Threaten TV Channels In UK).
The European media consumption trends are underpinned by two key factors: age and broadband access. Younger consumers show a propensity to consume media online whereas older consumers lean more towards traditional print media.
In addition, the research also shows that 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.
Mark Mulligan, vice president and research director at JupiterResearch, said: “The fact that internet consumption has passed print consumption is an important landmark for the establishment of the Internet in the European media mix.
“This shift in the balance of power will increasingly shape content distribution strategies, advertising spend allocation and communication strategies in the European arena.”
A report recently released by Nielsen/NetRatings said that just over half (52%) of Britons using the internet believe online and digital technology makes their life easier, although half (50%) say that they cannot keep up with the rapid progress (see Digital Consumers Revealed In New Research).
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