September 26, 2013

Nearly twice as many tune in to TV for news than read newspapers, with BBC rated most important source

More people still turn to television as their primary news source than any other platform, according to a new report from media watchdog Ofcom.

The survey of nearly 3,000 adults also found that the BBC was by some way still the most popular single source of news in the UK, as well as rated the “most important”.

Of those surveyed, 78 per cent said they used TV as a source of news, compared to 40 per cent using newspapers, 35 per cent radio and 32 per cent the internet.

The top three individual news sources were all TV channels. BBC One led the way, with 57 per cent using it for news. A third of respondents used ITV/UTV/STV, while 17 per cent used BBC News 24.

The top website was also the BBC, with 16 per cent using it. The Sun was the most used newspaper (10 per cent), while BBC Radio 2 was the most used radio station (8 per cent).

Almost a third of people access news through only one platform, with most of those preferring TV. Just over a fifth of respondents (22 per cent) said it was the only platform that provided news, with 5 per cent using internet only, 3 per cent newspapers and 2 per cent radio.

When asked which was “the most important” news sources, more than half named a BBC channel or the website, with 34 per cent plumping for BBC One alone. That gave the channel 2.5 times more mentions than the next most important source, ITV (13 per cent).

However, Sky News was rated as more trustworthy, impartial and unbiased by those who use it than any other TV source. The BBC trailed ion behind Channel 4 News and ITV in the category, with Channel 5 News rates the least reliable.