Shift from print/tv to web

An European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) survey of 7,008 people from Belgium, France, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian nations reconfirms the exodus.

Almost 2/3 of Internet users in Europe prefer online media to traditional media. In particular, 62% of the respondents prefer logging on to the web, terming it as a key information source.

Sixty-five percent visit news web pages at least once a month, whereas 28% admits that they read newspapers less and less.

Forty percent claimed they have stopped switching on their TV sets as much as they used to, while 22% said they do not listen to the radio.

Logging on to the Internet to listen to radio programmes or watch television ranks on the top ten of the most popular online activities among the Europeans, with 31% of the respondents listening to radio online and 30% watching online television and videos.

The European Interactive Advertising Association has predicted that more and more will swift away from TV to Internet.

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On the US front, a new In-Stat survey predicts that more than 16 million US households may be using their broadband service more than they use their TV sets within the next three years.

The fight between traditional TV broadcasters and ISPs is already on.

"Today's stable and profitable subscription TV services are facing new competition from online and mobile entertainment services, and from new high-quality packaged goods such as HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs," said In-Stat analyst Gerry Kaufhold.

"The very nature of 'entertainment' is undergoing a profound change in which the ability to instantly share content with friends, family and those connected on social networks or buddy lists is creating micro-user communities that replace traditional entertainment sources such as TV programmes.

"As more high-quality content becomes available online, savvy consumers are considering ways to reduce their monthly bills by getting everything from the Internet."

In-Stat's survey revealed that up to 30 per cent of respondents would drop subscription services and use the Internet for TV.

Some 42 per cent of respondents indicated that they are not getting enough international news and information from their current TV delivery services, even though there are hundreds of channels available.

The respondents to the survey had a broadband connection, a TV set, and were 18 years of age or older.

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