London, 21^st June 2005 – 15-24 year olds across Europe are spending less time watching TV and listening to the radio as a result of using the Internet, according to research from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), the pan-European trade organisation for sellers of interactive media.  Almost half of 15-24 year olds (46%) are watching less TV, preferring instead to browse the web while 22% are listening to less radio. A third of those questioned are even reading less, choosing to consume information over the Internet.

 

Watching TV                               46%

Talking on the phone               34%

Reading newspapers              33%

Reading books                          32%

Listening to the radio               22%

 

Across Europe, this key target audience is spending almost a quarter of their media time (24%) online, more than reading newspapers (10%) or magazines (8%). In comparison, the average European devotes 20% of their media activity to the Internet. Among 15-24 year olds, TV continues to represent the largest share of media time at 31% with radio just ahead of the Internet on 27%.

 

Music dominates online activity for this age group with the Internet providing a cheaper and more convenient means of purchasing and downloading tracks. A quarter of 15-24 year olds are now buying music online having previously purchased it in the shops. Almost half of those questioned (47%) would be prepared to pay for music download services, while 52% of youths listen to music online now instead of elsewhere.

 

Gaming is also a popular online activity for the youth market. 25% of 15-24 year olds would be prepared to pay for online gaming services. 40% had visited a games website within the past 7 days, while 17% had purchased a computer game online.

 

The EIAA research also reveals the extent to which youths are using the Internet to communicate with friends, with 58% preferring to chat to friends over the Internet. Meanwhile, over a third admit to talking less on the phone now that they are online while 26% send less text messages.

 

“The 15-24 age group is the holy grail for most advertisers and the EIAA research conclusively demonstrates the extent to which the internet now represents an essential media for this audience, increasingly replacing other media including TV and radio,” said Michael Kleindl, Chairman of the EIAA and CEO of Mailprofiler Technology Solutions AG. “If advertisers are to reach this key audience effectively, the proportion of online as part of total ad spend will have to rise significantly.” 

 

 

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The EIAA Pan-European Media Consumption Study interviewed 7,000 people in 8 countries and was undertaken by leading global research agency Millward Brown in late 2004.  The study was designed to quantify how people allocate their time across media in Europe and to gauge consumer perceptions of the internet and the role it plays within their media selection.

 

 

The European Interactive Advertising Association (www.eiaa.net) is a unique pan- European trade organisation for sellers of interactive media. The primary objectives of the EIAA are to champion and to improve the understanding of the value of online advertising as a medium, to grow the European interactive advertising market by proving its effectiveness, thus increasing its share of total advertising investment. Its members are currently AD Europe, AdLINK Internet Media AG, AOL Europe, MSN International, Tiscali, Yahoo! Europe, LYCOS Europe and T-Online International. It is chaired by Michael Kleindl, CEO of Mailprofiler Technology Solutions.

 

Alison Fennah                                                    Sarah Wilkinson/Gemma Yates

Executive Director                                              Red Consultancy

EIAA                                                                      Tel: 020 7025 6500

Tel: 01536 712710                                            Email: sarah.wilkinson@redconsultancy.com

Email: afennah@eiaa.net                               gemma.yates@redconsultancy.com