Key takeouts from Ofcom's news consumption in the UK report

A recent Ofcom report looks into news consumption across the UK. Here are the key takeouts from the piece.

#1 TV is the most popular medium

As the study shows, TV remains the most-used platform among UK adults for news (75 per cent). This is in spite of an overall decrease in use since last year (79 per cent).

Despite television being the most popular medium news, the report notes some exceptions. One of these is that people aged 16-24 are more likely to use the internet for news nowadays than TV. Not groundbreaking.

#2 Social media on the rise

Unsurprisingly, usage of social media has gone up, with 49 per cent of UK adults saying they use it for news (in comparison, 44 per cent used it last year).

Of those using social media for news, three quarters claim to use Facebook. Around one-third use Twitter and three in ten use WhatsApp and Instagram.

#3 Children's interest in news

As Ofcom shares, six in ten 12-15 year olds claim to be either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ interested in news. This group engages with news to understand what’s going on around them and to learn about new things.

The report, however, points out that when asked how often they read, watch or listen to or follow news, three quarters of 12-15 year olds said they do so at least once a week.

#4 BBC radio stations the most popular for news

Among the 43 per cent of those using radio for news, seven in ten claim to use any BBC station. BBC Radio 2 continues to be the most used (28 per cent), followed by Radio 4 (22 per cent, but noting a drop from 23 per cent last year). The third-most listened to station is Radio 1, with 21 per cent, noting a rise from 19 per cent since last year.

You can download the whole report here.

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