Russians watched an average 17 minutes less TV per day in 2019 than they did a year earlier.
Quoting data produced by Mediascope, Kommersant reports that this marks an accelerating trend, with reduction in average TV viewing time in 2018 being 12 minutes.
It adds that the reasons for the figures are a loss in Russian viewers’ confidence in TV as a source of news and the transition of TV content viewing to the internet.
However, despite this TV remains the medium with the highest coverage in the country. Around 70% of the population watch it on a daily basis and almost everyone at least once a month. In 2019, Russians aged 4+ spent an average of 3 hours and 40 minutes a day watching TV.
The last year in which TV viewing grew was in 2016, when it stood at 4 hours and eight minutes a day.
It should be noted that the research covered cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
A new panel used this year may offer a different picture, since young viewers in small towns watch TV more frequently.
