Stay ahead of the curve and future-proof your business with Mintel’s UK News Consumption Market Report 2024. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, news consumption trends, and a market analysis. Get a 360° view of media consumption UK, including a forecast to help you align your business strategy with the needs of your audience.
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.
Our Report Delivers Key Insights On
- The sources UK consumers use to follow the news, including TV news viewing frequency.
- Number of newspapers/news magazines people subscribe to, including brand research for national newspapers.
- Consumer Media Consumption Trends: Perceptions of major news channels.
- Key innovations across news providers.
- Consumer attitudes towards AI and news.
Media Consumption UK: An Overview
Mintel’s media consumption report shows that the cost of living crisis has presented significant challenges for publishers, with brands limiting advertising spend and consumers more reluctant to subscribe.
As households’ financial situation slowly improves it will help provide a boost to publishers, many of which have struggled ever since the decline of print.
Media Consumption Report: What UK Consumers Want and Why
- Consumer Media Consumption Trends: The widespread use of generative AI tools will add considerably to the problem of online misinformation, especially on social media – As a result, 51% of people are using other news sources more. It will be crucial that publishers work with platforms regarding these new tools to ensure factual publisher content is promoted and fairly compensated.
- UK News Consumption Opportunities: Although there are many concerns around AI and news, it does present opportunities for news publishers, as 61% of men aged 16 to 34 would use a newspaper website/app generative AI chatbot to receive information. Furthermore, the technology, once it is more reliable, could enable publishers to have their own chatbots to create more engaging interactions, a feature that could boost sales of subscriptions.
More About This Report
This Report explores the methods UK residents use to consume news content, including TV, newspapers, magazines, news websites/apps, radio, and social media.
Meet The Expert
This report was written by Rebecca McGrath, Associate Director. Rebecca writes Mintel’s media reports, analysing consumer trends and using these to provide market insight. Her specialist areas include news consumption habits, social media, and TV viewing habits. Rebecca has a BA (Hons) in Politics and American Studies from the University of Nottingham.
Our analysis of news consumption trends show that Gen AI features are set to shift how people obtain information, creating challenges as well as opportunities for news providers.
Rebecca McGrath
Associate Director – Media and Technology
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the news market
- Trust becoming even more crucial differentiator for news providers
- Publisher chatbots hold great potential but maintaining trust needs to remain top priority
- Multiple tiered subscriptions should be way foreword for newspapers and magazines
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market predictions
- Generative AI will alter how people get information
- Advertising spend from publishers down in the first quarter of 2024
- Graph 1: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure by national newspapers, Q1, 2020-24
- What consumers want and why
- TV remains most popular news format but habits are shifting
- Create longer videos for YouTube as social media content needs to stand alone
- Advertisers can target older consumers with disposable incomes via TV news
- Graph 2: TV news viewing frequency, by age, 2024
- Much room for growth for newspaper/magazine subscriptions
- Advertise subscriptions on Snapchat, TikTok and Twitch
- Local news still holds great interest
- Graph 3: news consumption behaviours, 2024
- Innovation and marketing
- The Evening Standard goes from a daily to weekly print edition
- AI can bring new life to aggregator news apps
- The Guardian ahead on trust
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Market Dynamics
- Macro-economic factors
- Consumer sentiment: wellbeing is up but the recovery has slowed
- Graph 4: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-24
- Healthier finances opens door for subscriptions
- Advertising spend on press down in 2023
- Publishers continue to struggle in weak advertising market
- 2024 should see growth in advertising revenue
- Social, environmental and legal factors
- Generative AI will alter how people get information
- Print newspapers continue decline
- Graph 5: purchases of print newspapers and magazines in the last three months, 2018-23
- Newspaper and magazine subscriptions remain niche
- Graph 6: use of newspaper and magazine subscriptions, 2018-23
- Government intervenes in Telegraph sale with potential ban on foreign ownership incoming
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What Consumers Want and Why
- News sources
- TV remains most popular news format but habits are shifting
- Graph 7: sources used to keep up with the news in the last month, 2023-24
- Young people are turning to social media for news
- Upload longer content to YouTube as social media content needs to stand alone
- Personality-orientated news content will bolster success on TikTok
- Younger people more inclined to use just one type of news source
- Graph 8: repertoire of types of news sources used in the last month. 2024
- Appeal of radio news remains
- Remaining print readers will be more accepting of price increases
- TV news
- Don't underestimate TV news
- Graph 9: TV news viewing frequency, 2024
- Advertisers can target older consumers with disposable incomes via TV news
- Graph 10: TV news viewing frequency, by age, 2024
- Weekly summary shows could appeal to younger news viewers
- TV news brand associations
- BBC News has the strongest associations
- Graph 11: association with TV news brands, 2024
- The BBC leads the pack for trust but needs to reinforce this view among younger people
- Graph 12: perception of BBC News TV among 16-24s, 2024
- Women have limited sense of GB News
- ITV News, Sky News and Channel 4 News struggle to stand out from each other
- Newspaper/news magazine subscriptions
- Much room for growth for newspaper/magazine subscriptions
- Graph 13: number of newspaper/news magazine subscriptions (print or online) currently have, 2024
- Multiple tiered subscriptions should be way foreword for newspapers and magazines
- Advertise subscriptions on Snapchat, TikTok and Twitch
- AI features could be key feature to place behind paywall in the future
- Attitudes towards newspapers
- Many have stopped reading a newspaper they used to
- Graph 14: attitudes towards newspapers, 2024
- Use puzzles/games to engage young news consumers
- Attitudes towards social media and news
- Greater social media misinformation opens doors for news publishers
- Graph 15: attitudes towards social media and news, 2024
- Social media misinformation driving some to other sources
- Trust becoming even more crucial differentiator for news websites
- 2024 elections provide opportunity for news providers to reassert themselves
- News consumption behaviours
- Local news still holds great interest
- Graph 16: news consumption behaviours, 2024
- Personalised newsletters and WhatsApp could become future of local news
- General election coverage needs to connect more with those struggling
- Men are paying attention to who owns news brands
- AI and news
- Consumers still wary of AI use by publishers
- Graph 17: attitudes towards AI and news, 2024
- Caution and transparency needed with AI-generated articles
- Young men are most interested in newspaper chatbots
- Publisher AI chatbots hold great potential
- … but don't compromise trust as news publishers will have much to lose
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Innovation And Marketing Trends
- Competitive strategies
- Google AI summaries could alter how people discover the news
- Meta's shift away from news continues as it limits political content
- AI can bring new life to aggregator news apps
- Launch activity and innovation
- FT embraces AI through agreement with OpenAI
- The Guardian shifts towards contextual advertising model
- The Evening Standard goes from a daily to weekly print edition
- Advertising and marketing activity
- National newspapers boost advertising spend in 2023
- Graph 18: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure by national newspapers, 2018-23
- Express promotes WhatsApp offering
- Advertising spend from publishers down in the first quarter of 2024
- Graph 19: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure by national newspapers, Q1, 2020-24
- The FT puts trust front and centre
- The Guardian promotes the importance of reader funding
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Brand Research
- The Guardian ahead on trust
- Men aged 25-44 are most satisfied with their newspapers
- The Sun is thought to offer good value but inspires low levels of trust
- Older women view the Financial Times as boring
- The Times and Financial Times viewed as more authoritative than the Guardian
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Appendix
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Methodology
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
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