Radio and television lose ground to internet

Internet use has increased by 21 per cent since 2001 imagepoint

The Swiss people watched less television, listened to fewer hours of radio but went online more often last year than in 2005, a study reveals.

The annual survey, which was published on Tuesday, reveals regional differences, but confirms long-term trends.

People in the majority German-speaking part of the country as well as in the French-language region watched one minute less TV per day in 2006.

Their Italian-language compatriots sat in front of the screen for five more minutes.

Mediapulse, the media research group of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), said television viewing in the German and French parts of Switzerland stood at 146 minutes and 170 minutes respectively every day.

Viewers in the Italian speaking part watched 180 minutes of TV daily.

The main SBC programmes remained the market leaders in all language regions.

Popular radio

Radio has kept its title of most followed medium with nine out of ten inhabitants tuning in every day.

Mediapulse said there was a slight decline in the number of listeners, down 0.7 per cent to 90.3 per cent in 2006.

They listened to 100 minutes of radio broadcasts per day last year, down four minutes compared with 2005. Drops were registered in the German and French speaking parts of Switzerland while figures remained stable in the Italian and Romansh parts.

The most frequent listening times were early morning, at around lunchtime and, to a lesser extent, in the evening.

Public radio increased its share of the market slightly to nearly 68 per cent, according to Mediapulse.

Web

Around 72 per cent of the population aged 15 and up used the internet at least once per quarter in 2006. There has been a 21 per cent increase in usage since 2001, the study said.

The use of internet in private homes had increased by 24 per cent over the past five years. In 2006, more than two-thirds of the population had internet access at home.

Slightly more than three-quarters of men and 68 per cent of women used internet last year.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Children in Switzerland watch TV for around 85 minutes a day.
80% of the Swiss population watched the football World Cup.
Three-quarters of the population watched TV on an average day in 2006.

Media use Britain and US 2005

Britain:

Men watched more TV than women in 2005 – 224 minutes compared with 180 minutes daily.

On average, men spent 28 minutes per day using a computer, more than double that of women, who only spent 13 minutes on a PC. Two in three men and just over one in two women had access to internet.

United States:

According to the Census Bureau, youths and adults spent 1,536 hours a year watching television in 2005, 984 hours listening to radio and more than 170 hours using the internet.

The New York Times said time spent with the aforementioned media increased to 3,543 hours in 2005 from 3,340 hours in 2000.