Tuesday 21 August 2018

Trends in UK consumer media usage

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2018/decade-of-digital-dependency
No surprise: UK adult consumers continue to be online for many hours of the day. According to Ofcom, which regulates UK telecommunications, they are online, on average, more than 24 hours every week. One in five UK adults is online 40 hours per week.

As shown in the chart above, fewer UK consumers are using desktop PCs. Instead, they're using mobile devices like smartphones and tablets (which were in their infancy in 2008).

Similarly, both smart watches and smart speakers are gaining in popularity--products that weren't available a decade earlier.

On the other hand, DVD players are losing ground, as are MP3 players.

Ofcom presents this timeline showing what products and services were introduced, and when.

How many of the products and companies named in this infographic will still be going strong in 2028?

Note that eMarketer recently reported that UK consumers consume media for 9 hours and 23 minutes per day, on average. This covers books and newspapers, not just broadcast and digital media. No growth since the previous year, indicating overall media consumption is not growing. However, mobile usage is up, within that 'flat' media usage statistic.