As of 2022, 77 percent of Europeans watched TV on a television set every day or almost every day. The countries with the most individuals viewing TV on a TV set were Bulgaria and Italy, with a share of 88 percent. Traditional television was not as popular in Luxembourg, Germany, Finland, and Sweden, where not even two thirds of respondents used TV sets (almost) every day. However, the share of the Swedes watching online television considerably rose, especially among younger age groups – in 2011, 32 percent of 15 to 24-year-olds watched internet TV daily, while the share was already 71 percent in 2021.
After television, the internet, and social media, radio is considered to be the fourth most important medium in the European countries. Based on the survey mentioned above, the usage of radio slightly decreased in the past years, reaching 43 percent of individuals in 2022. In addition, radio had the highest level of trust – the share of Europeans who tended to trust this medium was 57 percent in 2021. In comparison, only 20 percent had confidence in social networks. Radio was most popular in Slovenia and Ireland, with 66 and 65 percent of daily users in each country. Luxembourg (63 percent) and Slovakia (62 percent) followed.
Compared to other media the written press has the lowest reach. In the Netherlands, for instance, only about 40 percent of individuals were reached by newspapers in 2019 – down from a share of 66.5 percent in 2010. A similar development can be observed in Norway. Whereas Norwegians spent 25 minutes per day reading newspapers in 2009, ten years later the daily time spent amounted to an average of nine minutes. In this respect, older age groups in particular tend to use printed media. In 2021, individuals aged 67 to 79 years spent 29 minutes on reading newspapers. 25 to 44-year-olds read newspapers for just two minutes per day.
