• elDiario.es surpasses OKDiario in digital audience for the first time ever: 14% versus 12%

• The average weekly news source count has fallen from 3.9 in 2017 to 2.4 in 2026, although the “more than 5 sources” group has rebounded for the first time in the series

The trend in issue news brands used weekly in 2026 confirms one of the most established trends in the Digital News Report in Spain: the gradual reduction in the range of media outlets that citizens use to stay informed. In 2016, more than eight out of ten users relied on five or more news outlets in any given week. Ten years later, this proportion stands at around 51%, representing a decline of nearly thirty percentage points over the course of the data series.

The 2026 data , however, reveal an important nuance. For the first time since 2016, the group people who use more than five brands has seen a slight increase compared to the previous year. This shift does not alter the patron saint of concentration, but it breaks the sequence of continuous declines observed since 2017 and suggests a possible stabilization at the lowest levels of media diversity.

At the same time, the percentage of people who report not using any news brand to stay informed continues to grow, reaching 10% in 2026—the highest figure in the entire series. This data underscores the coexistence of two trends: one segment of the population maintains a strong connection with a issue of brands, while another is gradually moving away from regular news consumption.

The decline in issue brands consulted appears to be linked to forms of access that are increasingly mediated by digital platforms, in which social media, search engines, and aggregators play a central role in content selection, eliminating the need to directly access multiple news outlets.

Weekly in-person meetings

Television overwhelmingly dominates offline news consumption in Spain. Antena 3 leads with a 40% weekly audience share, followed by RTVE (30%), LaSexta (23%), Telecinco (21%), and Cuatro (19%). Regional and local public television stations also have a significant presence (17%). A comparison with 2025 sample moderate sample for the major television networks—Antena 3 rose from 38% to 40%; RTVE from 27% to 30%—although these variations should be interpreted with caution given the margin of sampling error. Radio (COPE 12%, Cadena SER 9%, Onda Cero 8%) and print media (El País 12%, regional press 13%) rank well below television.

 
 
Weekly Digital Audiences

The digital landscape reverses the offline hierarchies. El País (14%) and elDiario.es (14%) lead in digital consumption, followed by El Mundo (12%), 20 Minutos (12%), RTVE (12%), and OKDiario (12%). The most striking contrast is seen among television networks: Antena 3, the offline leader with 40%, has only a 10% digital audience (a 30-point gap), confirming that news television remains a predominantly linear and domestic phenomenon. The same disparity is seen at Telecinco (21% offline, 6% online) and LaSexta (23% offline, 6% online).

The most significant change from 2025 to 2026 is the decline of Antena 3 online: from 17% to 10%, a drop of 7 points—the largest recorded by any brand in the year-over-year comparison. El País rose from 13% to 14%, and elDiario.es increased from 11% to 14%, marking the B growth B the major publications.

Digital-native and traditional newspapers

The digital-native segment particularly clearly reflects the ideological landscape of onlinenews consumption inSpain. elDiario.es (14%) leads in 2026, surpassing OKDiario (12%) for the first time since both brands began being tracked regularly. In 2025, OKDiario was the top digital-native publication. El Confidencial (9%) and ElEspañol.com (9%) remain in second place. Libertad Digital (6%) and HuffPost (6%) are tied at the 6% mark. Público.es drops from 7% to 6%, the sharpest decline in the segment.

The ideological breakdown of media consumption remains striking. Brands associated with the left or center-left (elDiario.es, Público.es, HuffPost) have a combined reach of around 26%, while those on the right (OKDiario, Libertad Digital, Esdiario.com) reach nearly 22%. Trends in 2026 slightly favor the left.

Among newspapers with print origins, El País (14%) clearly maintains its digital leadership, followed by El Mundo (12%). These are the only two publications where digital-only users now outnumber print-only readers. Marca (10%) and regional and local newspapers (10%) follow in third and fourth place. ABC (7%) and La Vanguardia (7%) are tied. La Razón (6%), El Periódico (5%), El Correo (4%), and La Voz de Galicia (3%) round out the segment, with minimal changes compared to 2025.

Most television and radio stations have failed to translate their offline influence into the online world. RTVE is the clearest exception: with a 12% weekly digital audience share, it is the only television network to exceed 10% online and the one with the best relative conversion rate between offline (30%) and digital audiences. Antena 3, despite being the offline leader with 40%, drops to 10% online—a 7-point decline from 2025 and its lowest figure in the series—indicating that its television audience is not migrating to the digital environment with the same intensity. In radio, COPE (7%) outperforms Cadena SER (6%) in digital viewership despite trailing in offline audience share. Public regional television stations achieve an B online B , outperforming national brands such as Telecinco (6%) and Cuatro (4%).

Offline, Online, and Hybrid Audiences: The True Reach of Brands

Total net reach—which combines exclusively offline, exclusively online, and dual (both channels) consumption—provides the most accurate picture of each brand’s actual size. Antena 3 achieves a total net reach of 42%, the highest of all measured media outlets. Its breakdown is revealing: 32% are offline-only users, 8% are dual users, and just 2% consume content exclusively online. It is almost entirely a television brand. RTVE presents a profile balanced profile : 22% offline-only, 8% dual, and 4% online-only, with a net reach of 34%. In the print media segment, El País has the highest reach (21%) and is the only publication where exclusively digital users (9%) outnumber exclusively print users (7%). El Mundo (17%) has a profile . In radio, COPE (14%) leads the segment with a structure heavily weighted toward offline consumption(8% offline-only, 4% dual, 3% online-only).

 
 
 
A comparison with 2025 sample in the relative rankings: Antena 3 maintains its lead in total reach (42% in both years), RTVE rises from 30% to 34% thanks to growth in its dual audience, and El País increases from 20% to 21%. The market structure is relatively stable in terms of its leading positions, although the internal distribution among offline, dual, and online It continues to shift slowly toward digital.