MORE than half of all adults in Scotland use TV as their main source of local news – according to research published by the broadcasting regulators, Ofcom.
According to Ofcom’s latest annual Communications Market Report: Scotland, last year 54 per cent of adults in Scotland stated that TV was their main source of local news, higher than the UK average of 50 per cent. Newspapers were the second most-stated source, at 15 per cent. The internet was mentioned by just four per cent in Scotland, significantly lower than in the other nations and the UK average of nine per cent.
The breakdown for the UK reads as follows:
Scotland – TV 54 per cent, radio 12 per cent, newspapers 15 per cent, internet four per cent, talking to people 12 per cent, other: the remainder.
England – TV 49 per cent, radio nine per cent, newspapers 16 per cent, internet nine per cent, talking to people nine per cent, other: the remainder.
Northern Ireland – TV 59 per cent, radio 11 per cent, newspapers seven per cent, internet eight per cent, talking to people 16 per cent, other: the remainder.
Wales – TV 54 per cent, radio 11 per cent, newspapers eight per cent, internet 18 per cent, talking to people seven per cent, other: the remainder.
UK – TV 50 per cent, radio nine per cent, newspapers 15 per cent, internet nine per cent, talking to people nine per cent, other: the remainder.
Meanwhile, adds Ofcom, last year adults in Scotland were most likely to say that television was their main source of news about their own nation, at 69 per cent; marginally higher than 62 per cent in Wales and equal to 69 per cent in Northern Ireland. People in Scotland were also most likely to choose newspapers – 12 per cent compared to nine in Wales and seven per cent in Northern Ireland, while the internet remains less popular than in any of the other nations as a main source of news (two per cent).
The breakdown:
Scotland – TV 69 per cent, radio 11 per cent, newspapers 12 per cent, talking to other people five per cent, internet and other: the remainder.
Northern Ireland – TV 69 per cent, radio ten per cent, newspapers seven per cent, talking to other people five per cent, internet nine per cent and other: the remainder.
Wales – TV 62 per cent, radio ten per cent, newspapers nine per cent, internet 16 per cent, talking to other people and other: the remainder.
Source: Communications Market Report: Scotland, 2013, Ofcom, published August 1 2013.
