Ofcom market report says media changes are "dramatic"
Howard Lake | 21 August 2006 | News
Communications regulator Ofcom’s annual communications market report describes the changes in the public’s use of media over the past year as ‘dramatic’.
Ofcom’s chief operating officer Ed Richards, commented on the report’s findings, saying: “The sector is being transformed by greater competition, falling prices and the erosion of traditional revenues and audiences.” He added that “a new generation of consumers is emerging for whom online is the lead medium and convergence is instinctive.”
Bewteen 2004 and 2005 the number of households with broadband connections reached 9 million, an annual increase of 63%, and by March 2006 18.3 million households had digital TV.
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Online advertising revenues reached £1.3 billion in 2005, one third of TV advertising revenue, and a rapid growth from £0.17 billion in 2001. Radio advertising meanwhile has not grown in real terms since 2001.
The Internet continues to eat into users’ consumption of other medium. Those aged 16-24 spend so much time on the Internet that as a result each week they spend seven hours less watching TV and 1.5 hours less listening to radio. Social networking sites such as Bebo and MySpace are particularly popular, with over half of 16-24 year olds using one at least once a week.
This age group are also using their mobile phones more often, sending 42 more text messages and seven more calls per week than they did the previous year.
So, digital media, not surprisingly, are still a growing force in the UK.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.