TV IS STILL POPULAR MEDIUM FOR NEWS

Television is still the preferred medium for news consumption for most people, rather than laptops, smart-phones and tablet PCs, a study said today. According to the study conducted by InSites Consulting for BBC World News, respondents said 42 per cent of their time for news consumption was spent on TV, while that on laptops was 29 per cent, on smart-phones 18 per cent and tablets 10 per cent. It also added that rather than competing, the different platforms complemented one another. "There's been speculation for years that mainstream uptake of smart-phones, laptops and tablets will have a negative impact on television viewing, but this study has found that the four devices actually work well together, resulting in greater overall consumption rather than having a cannibalising effect,

" BBC Global News CEO Jim Egan said. Smart-phones and laptops are most popular during the working day, while TV usage spikes dramatically from evening onwards and its usage is 50 per cent higher than any other device around primetime. The study was conducted across more than 3,600 owners of digital devices in Australia, Singapore, India, the UAE, South Africa, Poland, Germany, France and the US.
About 43 per cent of the tablet users said they consume more TV than they did five years ago, while 83 per cent said they use their tablets while watching television. The study also found that in breaking news situations, most users turn to television as their primary and first device (42 per cent); the majority (66 per cent) then turning to Internet to investigate stories further. Respondents rated national and international news as most important (84 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively), followed by local news (79 per cent). Financial and business news (61 per cent) were more highly valued than news about sports (56 per cent) and arts/entertainment news (43 per cent), it added.