TV tops news consumption in the UK

TV tops news consumption in the UK

BBC One is watched by 62 per cent adults in the UK and is believed to be the most important source

BBC One

MUMBAI: In the UK, TV is the most used platform for news (79 per cent) according to the 2018 News Consumption in the UK research report published by communications regulator Ofcom.

TV is followed by internet (64 per cent), radio (44 per cent) and newspapers (40 per cent) among adults. However, internet is the most popular platform among 16-24s (82 per cent) and ethnic minority groups (EMGs) (73 per cent).

Television being the most-used platform, BBC One is the most important news source and is used by 62 per cent adults in UK followed by ITV (41 per cent) and Facebook (33 per cent). When it comes to online news, social media is used by 44 per cent adults.

BBC One is the most used source for news in Wales, Scotland and England, while UTV is most popular in Northern Ireland (NI). Facebook is the third most popular source across all nations. Welsh respondents are most likely to say they’re interested in news about their nation (55 per cent vs 49 per cent in Scotland, 37 per cent in NI and 32 per cent in England).

One in seven adults (14 per cent) use all four main platforms for news (i.e. TV, radio, newspapers and the internet).

Eighty two per cent of 12-15 year olds said that the news they heard from family was either ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ true, compared to 77 per cent for radio and 73 per cent for TV. Only one in three (34 per cent) think news stories on social media are reported truthfully.