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Smart TV use grows, smartphone stabilizes as an information device

After eight consecutive years of growth, news consumption on cell phones fell three points in the last year (75%)

  • 64% of Internet users prefer cell phones for online information.

  • Eight out of ten Internet users between 18 and 44 years of age (77%) use their smartphone as their main device for online information.

  • The computer has lost ten percentage points since 2019. In 2022, four in ten (42%) internet users over 45 use it for online information, but three in ten (28%) between 18 and 44 years old.

  • In general, 54% of Internet users use a 'smart' or connected TV (eight points more than in 2021) and 25% use it to consult news content on the Internet.

This year's survey barely sample changes with respect to last year in the data device usage. In any case, on the one hand, there was an 8-point increase in smart TVs, used by 54% of Internet users, and, on the other, a 6-point increase in smart speakers, used by 18% of Spanish Internet users.

Weekly use of devices

75% of Internet users enquiry news on cell phones

In addition, the data data on the use of different devices for information are the same as those obtained in survey in 2021. Thus, the cell phone is the device most used by Internet users to obtain information online, since almost three out of four use it for this purpose (75%), 3 points less than in 2021 (78%).

The smartphone is more than twice as popular as the computer (36%) for digital news. The computer is the only device that shows significant differences in use between men (44%) and women (29%); it is used by four out of ten over 45 years of age (42%) and only three out of ten between 18 and 44 (28%). group In the 55-64 age group, 45% of Internet users use the computer for information, while the percentage rises to 53% for those aged 65 and over.

Overall usage of smart TVs and smart speakers rises.

In the last year, the overall use of smart and connected TVs has grown 8 points, from 46% to 54%, and the use to access online news -either through the functions or through the applications installed on the TV- has gained one percentage point: one in four Internet users (25%) say they use this device. There are significant differences in usage according to age: 19% of adults between 18 and 44 years old and 29% of those over 45.

There are also no major variations in the use of the tablet to consult news, which also gained one percentage point in the last year (19%). The significant difference in use by age stands out: 15% among Internet users aged 18 to 44 and 20% of users aged 45 and over; in particular, 27% of Internet users over 65 use the tablet for online information.

Finally, despite the six-point increase in the proportion of smart speaker users for any purpose (18%, 12% in 2021), informational use of this device remains the same as last year (5%).

Evolution of the use of devices to consult news on the Internet

Since 2014, smartphone news usage has climbed 30 points. But this last year it has dropped 3 points, from 78% to 75%, halting its ascent. No significant differences are found in the use of this device by men (76%) and women (75%), nor by age: 77% of Internet users aged 18 to 44 years and 75% from 45 years and older.

As last year, 36% of Internet users use computers to access digital news. On the other hand, news use of televisions and smart speakers has stabilized in the last year, with 25% and 18%, respectively.

In addition, the informative use of the devices stands out among those who use them on a regular basis. The following graph shows the percentages of Internet users who use the various devices for information purposes, as compared to the percentage of Internet users who use each device for any purpose.

Use of each device for information

According to this criterion, we find a higher proportion of users than previously considered, i.e. out of the total number of Internet users surveyed (N = 2028). Thus, eight out of ten smartphone users (82%, 4 points less than in 2021) use it to consult news. Six out of ten computer users (59%) use this device for news. Meanwhile, 45% of users of a smart or connected TV access online news content through the same device. Among tablet users, 43%. Finally, it should be noted that three out of ten regular users of the smart speaker (28%) ask the voice assistant for news and, finally, 15% of users of a smart watchenquiry digital news on the same device.

Weekly use of devices to consult news on the Internet

When considering the frequency with which Internet users access digital news, higher percentages of users of each device are found among those who consult the news several times a day (N = 1108) than among those who get information once a day (N = 527).

Among those who get information several times a day, 81% use their smartphone to get information, compared to 76% among those who get information only once.

Forty-five percent of those who check the news several times a day use a computer to access digital news, compared to 33% of those who check the news only once a day.

On the other hand, among those who get information several times a day, three out of ten (30%) use the smart or connected TV to access digital news, compared to 23% of Internet users who get information once a day.

As for the tablet, 23% of users who check the news several times a day use this device to access online news, compared to 15% among those who get information only once.

Primary device for accessing news on the Internet

The majority prefer smartphones (64%) as a device for online information.

64% of Internet users who in the previous week used any device to consult online news state their preference for the smartphone to access digital news. The smartphone gets 3 percentage points less than in 2021 as the main device (67%).

In this regard, there is a significant 10-point difference between the proportion of women who prefer mobile (69%) and men (59%). In terms of age, almost eight out of ten Internet users between 18 and 44 years of age choose the smartphone as their preferred device for accessing news, compared to 57% among those over 45 years of age. The percentages bulge at the extremes: while in the group age group up to 34 years old it is 76%, among users over 65 the percentage leave is 42%.

In turn, 17% of Internet users choose the computer as a priority, 2 points more than last year. There is a significant difference between the percentage of men (22%) and women (12%) who choose the computer for online information. By age, there is a higher proportion of users over 45 years of age (22%), reaching 30% among Internet users over 65 years of age, while only one in ten Internet users under 45 years of age (10%) say they prefer to get information online via the computer, at home or at work.

Growing preference for smart TV to consult online news content

Finally, two out of ten Internet users (19%) choose another subject as their main device. The percentage of users who prefer the smart or connected TV for online information grows from 7% to 10% in the last year; it is 1 point more than in 2019 and the best record obtained since 2014. Among users over 45 years old, they are 11%, but smart TV enthusiasts are mainly found from 65 years old onwards, with 15% stating that they prefer smart TV.

Finally, 5% use the tablet (7% of those over 45 and 10% among those over 65) as their main device to access digital news. The following graph sample the evolution of the main use of devices since 2014.

Primary device for accessing news on the Internet

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