UK: More People Now Get Their News Online Than from TV

How did this not happen in like, 2006?

ITV:

Online has become the most popular news source by a small margin, as TV viewership continues to decline, according to an Ofcom news consumption survey.

Its report, which saw market research company Jigsaw Research conduct 5,466 interviews, found that 71% view news online, compared to 70% viewing news on television.

It follows a downward trend of TV news viewership over the years, with 79% of respondents saying it was their primary news source in 2018 while 70% said the same in 2024.

The top individual sources however remain Public Service Broadcasters, with BBC and ITV taking the top two spots.


Thankfully, the “public service broadcasters” are going down

However, both broadcasters have still suffered a decline in viewership over the years with 43% of respondents said they favoured BBC One in 2024, down from 58% in 2019.

ITV1 saw a similar decline, going from 40% in 2019 to 30% in 2024.

Online news has instead increased – up from 68% in 2023 to the 71% this year.

Among adults who directly access news online, the BBC website came out top at 59%, followed by Sky News (20%), The Guardian (20%) and The Daily Mail (19%).

Social media has also become a “significant component of online news consumption” according to the report.

Around 52% of respondents use it as a news source in 2024, compared with 44% in 2018. The most commonly mentioned websites were Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Younger people increasingly rely on online news sources, with 88% of 16 to 24-year-olds using the internet for news, and only 49% using TV.

Who even has a TV?

I mean, people have a TV, but isn’t it all just internet channels?

I didn’t think people even subscribed to cable anymore, unless they were 80 years old.

These people can’t even not lie about the weather