The Channel | 2006 | July

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media ousting the old?
InterMedia, the Washington DC-based media research, evaluation and
consulting organisation, has embarked on a global study to understand
how the Internet is being used to gather news and information, and how
and why this affects the more traditional media, including television
and radio. Project Manager Sarah Glacel reports on some of the findings
InterMedia is a leader in providing global research, evaluation
and consulting in support of the international media and
development community. The company assists clients turn
public attitudes, opinions and behaviours into market
intelligence and strategic communications solutions in
transitional and developing countries worldwide. Based in
Washington DC and the UK, InterMedia staff and associates
have decades of accumulated research and consulting
experience and vast geographic expertise spanning over 120
countries around the world.
InterMedia is a Member of the AIB
The countries where InterMedia conducted its research—Albania,
Bosnia, Belarus, Kosovo, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine—have all
experienced significant growth in the number of internet users
since just five years ago. The data in this article is from national
surveys with sample sizes of 2,000 and 3,500 conducted in each
country as well as internet related focus groups in Russia, Belarus,
Ukraine, and Albania. All research was conducted between
September 2005 and May 2006.
A regular internet user is defined as a person who reports using
the internet at least one time a week. In each of the countries
profiled, regular internet users make up between 7 and 18% of
the general population.
One difference between Eastern European and other parts of the
world is that women in Eastern Europe tend to access the internet
at roughly the same rates as do men.
It should be stressed
that an ever-growing role
is being taken by the
internet which allows the
acquiring of a large
amount of information
in a very short time
Albania, male, 33, military
other mediums but then go online for greater detail and differing
viewpoints, making the internet a complementary medium easy to
combine with other forms of news gathering.
This complimentarity is being used effectively by some traditional
television broadcasters. A good example of this is in Albania, where
nearly all the top websites are run by television networks. Other
media organisations are also taking advantage of the increased
audience and promotional opportunities of a multi-media approach.
Will the new media triumph?
Broadcasters must continue to respond creatively to the decreasing
dependence on television as the key source for following current
events, especially among the young. This group, tomorrow’s most
influential demographic, will almost certainly be heavy internet
users. At the same time, new technologies will offer easier and less
expensive access,
broadening the user
community. The challenge
for media organisations
(as well as retailers,
marketers, advertisers and
a host of other sectors) is
to recognise the
opportunities posed by
new communications
technologies, the particular
demands and preferences
of their audiences, in terms
of content and delivery, and integrating these into a cross-platform
broadcast strategy.
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