Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 13, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The internet is developing splendidly, but at the expense of television and print. People aged eleven to 39 now spend 40 percent of their total media time online, while only 25 percent is devoted to television and ten percent each to radio and print. This is the finding of the latest edition of the “Timescout” youth study by Hamburg market-research institute tfactory. According to the study, more than 50 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds already watch their favorite series online. Television is therefore not only losing viewers increasingly; the TV set is also often being reduced to a mere “everyday background medium.” Around 40 percent of people aged eleven to 39 leave the television on without paying deliberate attention to it.
“The way young people absorb information today has fundamentally changed,” Philipp Ikrath, study director at tfactory, told pressetext. The print sector in particular has suffered greatly from this development. “Young people today are increasingly turning away from the writing and reading culture that prevailed for so long,” Ikrath added. The technical possibilities of the web also play an important role. “Young people particularly appreciate the greater timeliness of online information, its free availability, and its easier handling. They want information that is brief and compact,” Ikrath summarized.
A similar development can be seen in television use. “The group of young Germans who no longer consume films and series on television but via the internet is growing significantly,” Ikrath said. The added value offered by online services is especially important: they are free, easy to use, and generally offer good image quality. “The ability to use them without being tied to a schedule and to avoid unwanted television advertising also plays an important role,” Ikrath noted. Just as radio was once pushed into the background by the arrival of television, television is now being condemned to a “background existence” by the internet. “After the United States, this development is now becoming clearly apparent in Germany as well,” Ikrath said.
According to the tfactory study, the internet boom has serious consequences beyond the media industry. Event organizers and restaurateurs are also being adversely affected. “Young people go to discos, clubs, and pubs less often. Even partner searches are conducted via computer screens by a growing percentage of young Germans,” Ikrath said. He does not, however, expect this growing trend to cause young people to neglect their social environment. “In my opinion, the concept of social communication has fundamentally changed in recent years. Particularly among younger users, it is shifting away from face-to-face interaction toward communication in online social communities,” Ikrath concluded.
