Is Print Dead? Newspapers Not Featured At All In Malta’s Latest News Consumption Survey
Concerning results for newspapers have emerged from the Broadcasting Authority’s latest National Audience Survey, which highlighted the way that Maltese residents consume news.
Respondents were asked where they get their news from, and newspapers didn’t feature at all in the statistics, which is a decline from last December’s report, where they ranked last at 0.1%.
The most popular source of news remains TV, with 40.1% of respondents stating they get their news from television. However, this is a decline from last December, when 48.4% of participants cited television as being their preferred source for local news.
Online news portals are the second most preferred source for obtaining local news at 22.2%. Last year they stood at 27.1%.
Pictured above: Statistics on preferred sources for local news (May 2020)
Pictured above: Statistics on preferred sources for local news (May 2021)
More people are also turning to social media as their main source of news. Probably due to the fact that more and more news outlets and online platforms are using social media to promote their platforms.
Social media as a preferred source for local news has increased from 16.6% to 19% since last year.
TVM comes in as the most-watched Maltese TV channel, followed by foreign stations as being the second most-watched. The third and fourth most-watched stations are ONE and NET TV respectively. The news bulletin is the favourite genre for local TV programmes.
According to the study, the most popular time to watch television is between 8pm and 8.30pm.
Online Maltese programmes are those programmes that are produced solely for online portals. A staggering majority of 83% have stated that they don’t watch any programmes created for online portals. This is more evident with those aged over 30.
The remaining 16% watch online Maltese programmes. The younger demographics (aged 12-30 years) watch more online shows.
The most used platform to watch online Maltese programmes is Facebook, coming in at 75%.
Coming in second is Lovin Malta at 29.3%, and is the most popular among people aged between 12 and 30.
If you would like to check out Lovin Malta’s breakdown of last year’s report, click here.
Where do you get your news from?