British And US Surveys Tell Traditional Media What They Already Knew -- Attempts To Keep Or Attract The Young Are Failing As They Migrate to The Internet In Ever Increasing Numbers

Philip M. Stone August 13, 2006

Two separate surveys on each side of the Atlantic confirm – as if it really needed confirmation – that the young are giving up their newspapers and television and spending ever increasing time on the Internet and using their mobile phones. Plus one other problem -- the older folks are getting the hang of the Internet now, and they’re also spending more time online.

Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications, has just released its very detailed 2005 Communications Market Report that dissects the use of communications across the UK.

Among its major findings as they affect the young:

• Young adults, classified as 16-24, spend an average of 21 minutes more time online per week and send 42 more SMS messages than does the general public. They also spend seven hours less time watching television than does the general population.

• 2005 saw rapid growth in the reach and usuage of social networking websites MySpace, Friends United, and Bebo and the like), which allow users to create online profiles and connect with friends or others with similar interests. Research showed that over 40% of adults with internet access have used these sites, that figure rises to 70% among 16-24-year-olds, with over half in this age group using them at least weekly.

• Among young adults, 27% said they read national newspapers less since they started usng the Internet compared to a 14% drop by the general population. Twenty-one per cent said they spend less time on magazines, and 15% said they spent less time listenng to the radio.

• The five analogue television television networks now attract a 70% share of the total audience, compared to 80% five years ago, but with the young adults that figure is 58% compared to 74% five years ago.

The increased digital usage by the young has already had ripple effects among traditional media focused on that age group. Some teen magazines, for instance, that used to do well now struggle. Emap just closed Sneak Magazine  because teens found it easier to find all that celebrity gossip on the Internet. Another teen magazine,  Smash Hits, that printed the lyrics to be the big teen music hits  and published interviews with the pop stars closed its doors in February.

And speaking of pop hits, perhaps the biggest closure of all came in July when the BBC broadcast its last Top of the Pops, a top-20 music show that was required viewing for any British teenager since the 1960s. But the BBC said that with so many digital outlets now available Top of the Pops had finally run its course.

Ed Richards, Ofcom’s chief operating officer, said, "Our research reveals dramatic and accelerating changes across all communications industries. The sector is being transformed by greater competition, falling prices and the erosion of traditional revenues and audiences. A new generation of consumers is emerging for whom online is the lead medium, and convergence is instinctive."

A vanishing breed...

He said the young are true multi-taskers, using the Internet, watching television and listening to their iPods, all at the same time. The big problem for advertisers, he said, is how do you get their attention when they’re doing three things at once?

And bad news for the likes of the BBC and ITV analog services, teenagers are moving away from them and are now watching digital TV programs.

It’s because of numbers like these that online revenues in the UK have jumped so high, from £170 million in 2001 to £1.3 billion forecast this year. It brings in three times the radio advertising spend, and it is about one-third of what is spent on television advertising.

Ofcom said its research for this year’s report did not cover whether the increased Internet usage by the young was driving those users to newspaper web sites, and it promised to research that for next year.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times survey found pretty much the same results for young Americans. Only 17% of young adults aged 18-24 said they read a newspaper for current events (it was just 9% for those 12-17), but 38% of the young adults (28% of teens) said they got their news from local television.

News magazines hardly show at all with just 2% of each group saying they got news from those sources.

And perhaps the scariest statistic of all was that 10% of the teens and 12% of the young adults said they did not pay attention to current events, anyway.