Latest Survey Data are Now Available

These recent survey data track media and new technology use—the most popular channels and stations, who is using radio, television, press, the internet and SMS; the frequency with which they use them, and what they use them for. The datasets provide detailed information about radio and television access and ownership among various segments of the population, as well as how and where people go online, their favorite websites and online activities. These data also gauge the various topics that interest media consumers, and reveal their most important news and information sources. The latest sets include:

Armenia

• Sample size:  2,000

Fieldwork was conducted just prior to national elections on 19 February; data show television and radio use was significantly up from the previous year, as was interest in politics.

Azerbaijan

• Sample size: 2,522

This data captures the significant change in media use caused by the closing of all Russian television stations in Azerbaijan. Use of Russian media for news gathering went from 30 percent to 12 percent weekly over the past year. Satellite use in the country doubled.

Indonesia

• Sample size: 3,012

A broad range of media and demographic information that covers 93 percent of Indonesia’s adult population.

Laos

• Sample size:  1,500

A rare data set covering media use patterns, social capital variables, measures of grassroots opinion leadership and political knowledge in Laos.

Somalia

• Sample size: 509

The extreme local conditions have resulted in a number of technology leaps: a majority of the adult population now have access to cellular phones, and SMS-based news service providers have become a very important source of news and information.

Syria

• Sample size: 1,502

Modest efforts at liberalization have helped propel internet use in Syria over the last five years. More than two-thirds of monthly users access the internet at home, a surprising majority that increases according to level of education.

African Broadcast and Film Markets Report

A new in-depth analytical report, produced by InterMedia in partnership with U.K.-based Balancing Act, uncovers valuable insights into the continent’s rapidly changing and ever-more sophisticated media landscape—insights broadcasters, advertisers, NGOs and governments can use to increase their reach and strengthen their impact among African audiences. African Broadcast and Film Markets draws on  years’ worth of InterMedia-Balancing Act survey data, interviews, research, analysis and strategy, all gathered into one accessible resource that provides an expansive yet detailed picture of how audiences and the media are developing across Africa, both sub-Saharan and North Africa.

The days in which African consumers have the choice of only a few government-controlled radio and television stations are at an end. As is the case elsewhere in the world, new technologies—the internet, SMS, mobile phone—are becoming increasingly accessible and affordable to the continent’s  emerging  middle class. Often, these technologies converge: people go online to listen to the radio and read newspapers; soon they will be able to use their mobile phones to watch television programs. Widespread broadband connectivity is likely in the not-too-distant future.

Through their study of 17 key African markets, InterMedia and Balancing Act analysts explore these trends in detail. They have uncovered data revealing audience profiles as well as shifting trends in programming, channels, platforms and technologies.