[London, ENGLAND] A study conducted in the U.K., Germany,
France and Sweden, and published this week by
AdLINK Internet Media AG,
shows that the Internet is gaining ground on traditional
media such as television.
51 percent of U.K. interviewees said they had less
time to watch television once they got online. Other
countries showed even higher rates, with Germany at
52 percent, and France at 59 percent.
What’s more: it is not only television that is affected.
Print media, says AdLINK, are also severely hit
by a decline in usage, 29 percent of the 1310 respondents
interviewed saying they were reading fewer periodicals
and newspapers as a result of using the Internet.
Michael Kleindl, chief executive of AdLINK commented that
radical changes are taking place in media usage — and
the advertising market would have to change to keep
pace with these new developments by adding the Internet
to the more traditional media mix.
“The old economy, which at present accounts for more than
80 percent of AdLINK’s revenues, will be restructuring its
budgets,” said Kleindl.
For the study, respondents were asked about their media
access and equipment, Internet experience, and why they
wanted to use the Internet.
Significantly, 90 percent of those interviewed claimed
that the time they spent online did not interfere with
their normal social life, even though it cut into their
reading and viewing time.
Other interesting factoids to emerge from the study are
that most people (two thirds of the interviewees) tend
to use the same Web sites. As many as 70 percent of U.K.
users bookmarked less than 20 sites — a strong indication
that many people do not really “surf” at all.
AdLINK says that the study, conducted by Infratest Burke,
will shortly be made available for downloading from the
AdLINK site.
