Analysts of Deloitte Consulting Company published the report "Media Consumption in Russia - 2019" (pdf). It contains a number of interesting figures and shows trends in how the preferences of the Russian audience are changing.
Some key conclusions:
- A record-breaking decline in the rating of trust in television (up to 28%). Audiences aged 20 to 24 and residents of Moscow watch TV much less frequently (by 16 and 8 p.p. below the average, respectively).
- The Internet has unconditionally become the main source of information in terms of both popularity (78%) and trust (42%).
- YouTube is ranked No. 1 among the most popular resources (ahead of Vkontakte).
- The smartphone is the main device for Internet access (88%) and for games (54%).
- Among messengers, Telegram's prevalence rate increased the most over the year (by 15 percentage points)
"The Internet remains one of the most dynamically developing media channels: the experience of Russians in using it is becoming more and more profound and multifaceted. The Internet is increasingly used in everyday life, and a growing proportion of Russians cannot imagine their lives without it," says Olga Tabakova, head of the high-tech, telecommunications, entertainment and media services group at Deloitte, CIS. - As users accumulate experience, their requirements to the quality of consumed content and the format of broadcast information increase. This stimulates the development of paid models of content distribution on the Internet and creates broad prospects for its commercialization.
Indicators for 2015-2019 show an increase in media content consumption through digital channels: Internet and electronic games. The popularity of video games is also growing. On the other hand, the popularity of television, reading paper books and printed media are declining.
The high level of media activity in TV viewing remains only among residents of the Far Eastern Federal District (+16 pp) and respondents of pensionable age (the index is +12 pp).
Despite a slight decrease in the radio audience, a slight increase in the frequency of listening (+2 pp) was recorded among those who continue to listen to it in 2019 - the first increase in five years. A similar situation is observed with regard to visits to theatres and concerts: the share of visitors slightly decreased, but the frequency of visits by the remaining audience increased (+2 p.p.).
Internet
The use of the Internet on both working and weekend days is the main media activity of respondents. This is also confirmed by the average duration of its use, which is much higher than that of other media channels.
On weekdays, the duration of Internet use (by 19 minutes) and radio use (by 10 minutes) is higher than on weekends, while the duration of watching TV and video games, on the contrary, is higher on weekends (by 27 and 21 minutes respectively).
The index of the growth of media activity of Internet use is the highest among all media channels (the index is equal to +62 p.p.). The highest index of media activity is observed among young people aged 16-19 years (+77 p.p.).
The most popular Internet resources among Russians are YouTube and Vkontakte. They are used by 86% and 80% of respondents respectively. This is followed by Odnoklassniki (57%), Instagram (52%) and Facebook (44%).
Telegram continues to be a popular platform among Russians (25%), despite attempts to block it.
Respondents note that, on average, they began to use YouTube video hosting more often (by 29 pp), as well as Vkontakte social networks (by 15 pp) and Instagram (by 19 pp).
Deloitte notes the growing popularity of advertising blockers, which complicates the monetization of content: "Over the past few years, the population's income has been declining, so citizens have become very cautious when spending money. It should also be noted that the culture of copyright payment on the Internet is still in its infancy in Russia and is not ubiquitous. This forces companies to develop flexible pricing policies. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money through advertising, as Internet users are increasingly reluctant to put up with advertising on the Internet and are looking for ways to escape it with the help of special applications. All this in aggregate, on the one hand, makes the monetization of content on the Internet quite a difficult task that requires original solutions, but, on the other hand, in the future may bring significant benefits to those who can find the right format of interaction with the audience.
Russians don't trust TV anymore, the Internet has reached the 1st place with a big gap.
Smartphones
The first place in terms of the level of demand among the functions of the smartphone for the second consecutive year is occupied by messengers: more than half of Russians (53%) said that they began to use them more often, while the demand index (the share of those who noted the growth in the volume of use minus the share of those who noted the reduction in the volume of use) increased by 7 p.p. - to +47%. The index of demand for calls made over the Internet also increased (by 11 p.p.), reaching +31% and surpassing calls made over the cellular network for the first time.
Messengers
Most often Russians have several messengers installed on their smartphones (on average four units).
In Russia, the most popular are WhatsApp (83%), Viber (61%), Skype (53%) and Telegram (40%). However, Telegram's prevalence rate increased the most over the year (by 15 p.p.).
In Moscow, Telegram is used much more frequently than the national average (the usage index is 18 pp. above the national average). Also, young people aged 16-19 years (by 25 p.p.) pay more attention to this messenger.
News sources
The main source of information for respondents of all age categories in 2019 are news, analytical and official websites. The second place for the majority of age groups is still held by television. At the same time, as the age group grows, the importance of television tends to grow: from 28% for the age group of 16-24 years old to 66-69% for respondents over 45 years old.
Also, as the age of respondents grows, the popularity of news, analytical and official websites is growing (from 64% to 87%), and the importance of social networks and blogs is decreasing (from 67% to 25-26%).
The importance of social networks and blogs has increased significantly over the year (by 7 p.p.): the largest increase among young people from 16 to 34 years old (an increase of 8-10 p.p. compared to last year).
Television as a key source of news in 2019 lost an average of 9 pp. The drop occurred in each age group, most strongly among respondents aged 16-24 years (by 13 pp.).
Finally, the trust rating
If different sources of information say different things about the same event (contradictory information is reported), what source will you be guided by first of all? Which source of information do you trust more?
News, analytical and official websites are the most important source of media information on the level of trust in Russia. Most of all, trust in them has increased over the year among those living alone and among non-working citizens (by 6 p.p.).
This year, the trend of declining trust in social networks and blogs has been reversed, the report says, and the level of trust has increased to 13%.
Recently, the number of respondents listening to podcasts has been growing - 43% of respondents. The most popular headings are movies, music, art, scientific and educational programs and news.
E-books
Despite the fact that the audience's coverage of eBooks remains stable, users claim a significant increase in the frequency of their use: the index of media activity of eBook reading is +27 pp. The more active use of eBooks is more often stated by men (the index is +31 pp.) and citizens living alone (+35 pp.). Even higher rates are observed among citizens working remotely (+49 p.p.) and respondents with secondary education (+39 p.p.). Among young people aged 16-24, the frequency of reading increases significantly (+44 p.p.), despite a slight decrease in the audience.
Video games
Interesting statistics on video games. It turns out it's not just for young people. The audience at the age of 30-44 years plays almost as actively as the youth.
The popularity of video games is slightly higher in cities with a population of over a million people and in large cities than in small towns (three right badges in the legend). In all categories of offline games are slightly more popular than online games.