TV Losing Audience to Internet
Russians with access to the Internet watch 17 percent less television than those without access. In Moscow, that figure is 26 percent, according to TNS Gallup Media. The average Russian without Internet watches 236 minutes of television every day. In Moscow, that figure is 268 minutes. This year, 29 percent of Russians, 50 percent of Muscovites, have Internet at home. Of those without Internet at home, 76 percent watch television every day (77 percent in Moscow, 73 percent in St. Petersburg), while only 71 percent with Internet do so (72 percent in Moscow and St. Petersburg).
Those with Internet watch television channels Rossiya, Channel One and NTV less than those without Internet. They watch more of STS, TNT, TV-3 and music channels, however. Programmers say that is due to the demographics of Internet users. The typical Russian Internet users are men 35-54 years old and well-off families with children.
The Internet contains similar material to television – news, films, even television shows. Nonetheless, television, as the cheapest advertising-bearing medium, will remain in demand for a long time to come. It costs $5 for advertisers to reach 1000 people by television, but $18 on the Russian Internet. Television cannot ignore the growing popularity of the Internet, however. Stations can use it for their own projects, as stations such as TNT already do. In April, 19,700 people from Moscow alone visited the dom2.ru site.
TNS Gallup Media has installed peoplemeters on the television in more than 3500 households throughout Russia. Its findings are based on the television-watching habits of those households.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 21, 2008
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Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
