Two in Five Adults Say They Listen to Satellite Radio Programming or Read a National Newspaper as Often

While there seems to be moreoutlets than ever for U.S. adults to get news, a new Harris Poll shows thatmajorities choose to get their news most frequently from broadcast mediums. Specifically, three-quarters (77%) of adults say they watch local broadcastnews, and 71 percent say they watch network broadcast or cable news severaltimes a week or daily. On the other hand, one in five (19%) U.S. adults saythey listen to satellite news programming or read a national newspaper (18%)several times a week or daily.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,985 U.S. adultssurveyed online between January 12 and 17, 2006 by Harris Interactive(R).

While broadcast television news appears to be the most popular mediumsought, many adults also get their news several times a week or daily by goingonline to get news (64%), reading a local daily newspaper (63%), listening toradio news broadcasts (54%), listening to talk radio stations (37%), listeningto satellite news programming (19%), and reading a national newspaper (18%).

A key indicator of media usage is age. Specifically:

• Matures (those 59 years of age and older) are most likely to rely on more traditional media outlets for information, with at least eight in 10 Matures saying they watch local broadcast news (88%), watch network broadcast or cable news (88%), or read a local daily newspaper (80%) several times a week or daily.
• Baby boomers (those 40 to 58 years of age) use the most varied types of media, with at least one in five boomers using each medium examined several times a week or daily. Along with Matures, Baby Boomers are most likely to watch both local and broadcast or cable television newscasts (83% and 74%, respectively), read local daily newspapers (66%), and listen to radio newscasts (64%) and talk radio (40%). Boomers and Gen Xers (those 28 to 39 years of age) are most likely to go online for news (68% and 70%, respectively).
• Generation Xers are most likely to get their news several times a week or daily from local broadcast stations (69%) or online sources (68%).
• Echo boomers (those 18 to 27 years of age) are the least frequent users of media, with only about half or less getting information several times a week or daily from each of the media types measured.

Source: Harris Interactive(R) Harris Interactive Inc. (http://www.harrisinteractive.com