Business First September 2017 Business First September 2017 | Page 74
The Final Word
If you want local
media coverage
PR Pros have to
remember these
things about the
Northern Ireland
media market
J
O
F
by Chris Brown, Director, Brown O’Connor Communications
ast month Ofcom, the UK’s
communications regulator, published its
Communications Market Report 2017
for Northern Ireland.
This report collates the information and
data about how we consume media here, for
how long, and via what method. It also sets
out a comparative analysis measuring us
against the rest of the UK as a reference point.
Not only does it make for interesting
general reading, it is invaluable for
professionals right across the
communications disciplines to assist in the
formation of opinions.
I know I have certainly adapted the advice I
give based on the evidence that this report
brings forward each year. It can provide a
serious amount of market analysis when we
don’t always have the time, resource or
finance to do so ourselves.
L
Key Findings
• Smartphone ownership continues to rise
in Northern Ireland, with more than three
quarters of adults (76 per cent) now
owning one. And 58 per cent of people say
the smartphone is their most important
device for going online, compared to 42 per
cent for the UK as a whole.
• This year’s report shows another rise in
tablet ownership, with three in five
households (62 per cent) now having one.
Four out of five homes (79 per cent) have a
fixedline broadband connection, while
people in Northern Ireland now spend
around 20.3 hours a week online.
• Despite the rise in online activity,
traditional media remain popular. We
spend far more time watching live TV (an
average of 3 hours 36 minutes a day) than
72 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
engaging in any other communications
activity.
• Radio continues to play an important
part in our lives; nine in ten people in
Northern Ireland tune in every week.
• On average, we listen to more than 20
hours of radio every week. People in
Northern Ireland are more likely to tune
into local BBC and commercial stations;
these stations account for 60 per cent of
listening, compared to 36 per cent for the
UK as a whole.
News and Current Affairs
In Northern Ireland in 2016, 72 per cent of
adults aged 16 and over said that TV was
their main source of UK and world news; this
was the highest proportion across all nations
and notably higher than the UK average
figure (56 per cent).
Seven per cent cited websites or apps as
their main source of news, lower than the UK
average (20 per cent), as was the proportion
in Northern Ireland who cited print
newspapers as their main source (one per
cent vs. eight per cent UK).
UTV’s earlyevening news bulletin, UTV
Live, attracted a 47.2 per cent average share
in Northern Ireland between 6pm and
6.30pm.
BBC Newsline, attracted a lower average
share (29.5 per cent) between 6.30pm and
7pm. This is in line with the BBC early
evening news bulletin across the UK as a
whole.
On average, people spend 20.8 hours
listening to the radio in an average week, an
increase of about 42 minutes compared to
2016.
The amount of time spent listening to any
radio in Northern Ireland has increased by
more than a million hours in the past year
(26.4 million hours vs. 27.4 million hours).
Internet
The most popular internet activities among
adults in Northern Ireland in 2017 were
general surfing/ browsing (82 per cent) and
sending/ receiving email (72 per cent). These
were also reported as having been done the
most in the ‘past week’.
Online shopping was the next most popular
activity (66 per cent), followed by social
networking (60 per cent).
Around half of internet users in Northern
Ireland went online for banking (53 per cent
or instant messaging (52 per cent).
This information is invaluable for
communications professionals as it helps
form strategies that need an integrated
approach.
Evidence contained in this report is very
hard to come by, and whilst there are
incremental changes in the statistics year on
year, it is always beneficial to keep track on
the trends.
Source: Ofcom Communications Market
Report 2017 for Northern Ireland
E
i
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B
f
Radio A
C
Eightynine per cent of adults in Northern
Ireland now listen to the radio, the highest
reach in three years. B