Media in Life: Demand Rises To Supply

Michael Hedges March 8, 2010 Follow on Twitter

With so much media activity in, on and around new media, it is hardly a surprise that people have gravitated to new media. TV stays TV, radio stays radio and newspapers stay newspapers until they migrate to the Web and mobile phones. It is, of course, where the people are going.

French media research institute Médiamétrie released its Media in Life study (March 4) revealing more is more. Daily contacts with media, broadly defined, by French people have increased 10% since 2006 to about 40 contacts. Just under 30% have contact with four or more major media each day. Persons aged 13 years and older were surveyed for the study in 2009.

Most contact remains with traditional media. Nearly the entire French population (99%) has daily contact with TV, radio, newspapers or cinema. Nearly 40% of daily media contact is with television, followed by radio (22%). Daily contact with newspapers has fallen.

The greatest change in media usage, a surprise to nobody, is contact with the internet and all it offers. One in two French people surf the web each day, compared with one in three in 2007 and one in four in 2005. On average, the French have nearly five contacts with the Web each day, 11%. Persons 25 to 34 years have more contact with the internet than other media channels.

The French, says Médiamétrie, are learning new habits. Videos, television programs, music and radio programs streamed on the Web have added daily contact with media. Mobile phones are now the conduit to more media usage, two contacts per day on average. More than 5% of mobile phone usage is listening to music on smartphones. French young people, under 25 years, have more contact through their mobile phones.

Nine out of ten French people watch television at home, 6 in 10 listening to radio and 4 in 10 using the internet. In their cars, 70% of French people listen to radio while one in ten are talking on their mobile phones and one in 11 are looking at newspapers. Think about it.

Three-quarters of French people have contact with media at work, up from two-thirds in 2005. There at the French workplace, one in three listen to radio or read newspapers and 20% are going to the Web.

France has long had a robust ‘traditional’ media sector. The French were, until fairly recently, internet laggards. That has changed. And mobile phones – smartphones, in particular – have changed even more. More media content available via new sources only increases the daily media contact.

See also in ftmKnowledge

Media in France

French audiences are moving fast to every new platform. Mobile and Web media challenges the old guard while rule makers seek new directions. Media life in France... and a few secrets. includes updated Resources 103 pages PDF (November 2009)

Order here