June 2001

We Can Live Without Newspapers But Not Without TV

TV is still the preferred source of news and information amongst five times as many people as the Internet, according to a new study released by McNair Ingenuity Research. A broad cross-section of people throughout Australia were asked if they could have only one media for their news and information, which media would they choose. Nearly half of the people in the survey said that under those circumstances they would choose TV, while a quarter nominated newspapers. A further 17% nominated radio as the one media they would choose for their news and information, while one-in-ten selected the Internet as their preferred source, although the Internet was nominated as the chosen media by 23% of people aged 18-24.

Regional Differences
While the majority of people living in regional Australia would pick TV if they only had one media available to them, this is not true of metropolitan Australians, where the combination of newspapers and TV are more popular than TV. The Internet was equally likely to be nominated as the preferred medium by 8% of adults in both metropolitan and regional Australia.

Social Context The survey also showed a strong correlation between employment circumstances and the media that people would pick if they only had one to choose from. For instance, white collar workers were the least likely (41%) to nominate TV as their preferred media, and those looking after children at home were the most likely to choose TV (60%). People describing their occupation as `home duties' were also twice as likely to choose magazines as their one media, although this still only constituted 6% of this group, compared to 3% of the total population. Unemployed people were also very likely to choose TV as their preferred media, and the least likely to choose newspapers. Students were the most likely group to suggest on-line as their only media, with some 27% of this group nominating the Internet.

The Age Difference

The results of the survey show that young people are far more likely to nominate an electronic media such as TV or the Internet, whole amongst people aged 40 and over, the difference is much less. In fact, young people were 30% more likely than older people to nominate TV as their one media, while older people were twice as likely to choose newspapers if they only had one media. The survey was conducted by Mcnair Ingenuity Research on Saturday 12th May 2001 amongst over 500 people aged 18 and over throughout every state and territory of Australia.

The above information is copyright to McNair Ingenuity Research and may not be reproduced or published without McNair Ingenuity Research's express permission. Contact Matt Balogh ph 02 9966 9133.

You can learn more about McNair Ingenuity Research by visiting www.mcnairingenuity.com or calling Client Services Director Matt Balogh on 02 9966 9133

McNair Ingenuity Research Pty Ltd ACN. 096 437 991 Level 4, 270 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest, NSW, 2065 Phone: +61 2 9966 9133 Fax: +61 2 9966 9277 www.mcnairingenuity.com