Survey: Internet Most ‘Essential’ Medium

In a way this is nothing new. Surveys have reported that the Internet was a top or the top medium for consumers in the past. However a newly released survey about the future of radio from Arbitron contains a number of interesting datapoints that are not radio specific:

When asked which medium was “most essential” to their lives, here was the breakdown:

• Internet: 42%
• TV: 37%
• Radio: 14%
• Newspapers: 5%

TV “still leads among those over the age of 45, Internet dominates among younger persons age 12 to 44.”

WiFi in home: 62% of homes with Internet access have wireless networks. Can you say: “Hello iPad”

Texting ubiquitous: 45% of mobile phone owners text multiple times a day. Here’s how it breaks down by age category among those answering that they send or receive texts several times a day:

• Teens: 75%
• 18-24: 76%
• 25 – 34: 63%
• 35 – 44: 42%
• 45 – 54: 37%

Of course these other media can’t compete with the Internet because it’s the only “all in one” medium and it contains the others: TV, radio, newspapers. So it makes sense that if you had only one to choose, you’d want the Internet because it means at least partial or compete access to the others.

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