When it comes to the portals or platforms people use for watching Maltese programmes online, Lovin Malta registered a significant increase from the last survey.

37.8% of respondents said they watch online programmes on Lovin Malta, up from 24.4% in the last survey, making it the second most popular local media house for online programmes behind only The Times (42.6%). Facebook was mentioned by 93.2% of respondents, YouTube by 67.2% and Instagram by 52.7%.

The survey also confirmed that more and more people are seeking out their local news online. 

The number of people who selected online news portals as their favourite source of news increased dramatically from 18.2% to 27%, with TV dropping from 56.9% to 48%. With 16% of respondents selecting Facebook and 3% Instagram, the total percentage of people in Malta who prefer getting their news online stands at 46%, neck and neck with TV.

It is clear that younger generations prefer online news to TV. Amongst 12-20 year olds, a whopping 87.3% of respondents selected either online news platforms, Facebook, or Instagram, with only 12.7% choosing TV.

Online is also the favourite medium for 21-30 year olds (55.6%), and 31-40 year olds (50.6%), but it declines to 41.6% among 41-50 year olds, 34.2% among 51-60 year olds, 29.6% among 61-70 year olds, and 27.8% among people older 70.

Respondents who favour online portals for their news were then asked for their favourite platforms. The Times of Malta came out on top with 61.5% of responses, with Lovin Malta second at 7.6%. They were followed by TVM (2.7%), MaltaToday (2.1%), ONE (2%), and Newsbook and NET (both 1.6%).

However, a massive 41.5% of 12-20 year olds selected Lovin Malta as their favourite online portal, not far away from The Times’ 47.2%.

The survey was carried out over a week in July, with 2,100 interviews conducted.