The internet is the media channel that European consumers can least live without, according to a new global study by the UK’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom. It’s a finding that confirms the extent to which the web has elbowed aside TV when it comes to media consumption, with big implications for advertising effectiveness.
In Germany, over half of those questioned (51 per cent) confirmed that the web was the media channel they would miss most. In the UK and Italy, the proportion was 43 per cent with 41 per cent for France. In all cases, the internet pushed TV into second place.
A number of the survey’s findings confirm the extent to which the web is successfully competing for consumer attention and consumer time. The internet emerges strongly as a competing entertainment channel in its own right, with the number of online video viewers up 27 per cent in Italy, 23 per cent in the UK and 21 per cent in France. The web is now the main source of news for 32 per cent of Italian consumers, 24 per cent in the UK, 23 per cent in Italy and 18 per cent in France.
In every European country surveyed, consumers now switch on their TV set less often as a result of web use. In France and Italy, 33 per cent of consumers watch less TV; 26 per cent of Brits and Germans have similarly cut back. Media stacking, the term for concurrent media use, shows the internet continuing to compete for attention even when consumers do watch TV. At least 70 per cent of consumers in each territory now surf the web in front of the television.
Against this background it’s no surprise that the web continues to make giant strides in its share of consumer time. In the UK, the average consumer now spends 14 hours each week online, up 21 per cent on 2004. Time online has risen by 13 per cent in France and Germany, and the 8 hours now spent online in Italy marks an 18 per cent increase over the last four years. The internet’s share of ad spend also continues to grow: reaching 19 per cent of 2007 ad budgets in the UK and 17 per cent in Sweden.
