Advertisers in the UK spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country, at £33, according to Ofcom’s second annual International Communications Market Report.
The regulator said that this is twice as much as France, Germany and Italy combined. At 14% of total revenues, spend in the UK on online advertising overtook magazine advertising for the first time and was more than the total spend on outdoor, cinema and radio advertising.
The Ofcom report analyses trends in the £873 billion global television, radio and telecommunications sectors in 2006, comparing the UK with eleven other countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Canada and the US.
The report also contains an insight into four developing communications markets: Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Broadband take-up continues to increase in the UK with over half of all households connected at the end of 2006, said Ofcom, putting the UK slightly ahead of the US for the first time.
Point Topic’s latest forecast predicted that the number of broadband customers in the UK will continue to grow steadily, but at a lower rate, to reach about 21 million by the end of 2012 (19 million consumer lines and two million business ones) (see UK Broadband Customers Will Continue To Grow, But The Rate Will Slow).
Ofcom also found that UK adults spend more time on social networking sites than their European neighbours, with 4 in 10 UK adults saying that they regularly visit the sites.
The UK adults who visit the sites spend an average of 5.3 hours each month on them and return to them an average 23 times in the month.
In the UK and the US, women use the internet more often than men. In the US, 52% of internet users are women and in the UK the internet is used equally by men and women except in the 18-34 age group where women spend more time online than men (57% compared with 43%).
People in the UK listen to more radio than in any other country surveyed, averaging over 21 hours per person each week, with the research showing that a third of the total population of the seven main countries in the report have listened to radio online.
MediaTel Group’s recent seminar on ‘The Future Of Radio’ saw Ralph Bernard, chief executive of GCap Media, say that digital radio cannot flourish unless Ofcom sets a date for switching off the analogue radio signal (see Bernard Calls For Radio Switchover Date)
He said that there is a £10 million loss per annum on digital and the industry “won’t sit and accept that for another 10 years.”
Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive said: “The report shows that convergence, bundling and the move to digital communications is a powerful global phenomenon.
“It’s important to understand international comparisons so Ofcom can develop better policies to serve the interests of consumers and citizens in the UK.”
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