Alex Trelinski
OVER two-thirds of people in Spain use television as their main daily source of news, despite the big rise in popularity of social media.
A study published on Thursday to coincide with World Television Day showed that 68.2% of people opted for free-to-air TV as their first daily choice for news and events coverage.
That’s followed by newspapers and online news sites (44.1%) and radio (32.4%).
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Interestingly social networks stood at 32.1%-, a 5.3% drop compared to 2023 in the annual UTECA study on Social Perception of Open Television.
UTECA is an organisation that represents commercial TV broadcasters in Spain and commissioned the survey from an independent polling company.
Eight out of 10 people (78.2%) believe that, if television, radio, and the press did not exist, more disinformation would circulate.
More than 77% of 18- to 34-year-olds support this position.
The study was carried out in early September with a representative sample of 1,359 online surveys of people over 18 years of age.
Nine of 10 surveyed said they preferred reporting and comment of professional television, press and radio journalists rather than influencers.
That view was shared by 87% of young people aged 18 to 34.
Respondents chose television as the channel that entertains them the most (64.7%), with a growth of 1.9 points over 2023 and ahead of social networks (25.3%), which are second choice and lost 6.6 points in one year.
Free-to-air TV(53.3%) is also cited as the best option for education due to its content, followed by radio (35.5%) and the press (31.3%).
Social networks are far behind as the least likely to educate (9.8%).
The president of UTECA, Eduardo Olano, thanked citizens for putting their trust in television.
He also reiterated ‘our commitment to continue informing and entertaining responsibly’.
