TV remains the most-used platform for news by adults in Northern Ireland

Ofcom has today issued a series of reports which look at UK adults' consumption of news across television, radio, print, social media and other websites or apps.

The UK’s communications regulator has looked at the UK news market as a whole, but has also published individual reports for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Key findings of the survey carried out in Northern Ireland reveal that TV remains the most-used platform for news nowadays by adults in Northern Ireland at 67%, (although this represents a decline from 80% in 2022), with radio (47%) and social media (42%) being the next most used platforms for news.

ITV1/UTV (47%) BBC One (44%) are the news sources with the highest reach among adults in Northern Ireland.

UTV and BBC One are the most-used sources for accessing news about Northern Ireland by people in Northern Ireland, and the report finds that four in five people in Northern Ireland who follow news are interested in news about their own nation.

BBC iPlayer (30%) is the third most popular, with Facebook (29%) the fourth.

Eight percent of those asked use TV channels from the Republic of Ireland (RTE Channels / Virgin Media One/TG4), with 9% of adults in Northern Ireland using the Belfast Telegraph/Sunday Life; 6% the Irish News; and 3% the Sunday World.

In terms of radio, the three most popular stations in Northern Ireland are all local; BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle (18%), Cool FM (14%) and U105 (12%).

BBC iPlayer and ITVX have been included in the UK-wide survey for the first time this year, and are 4th and 14th respectively in the table ranking the Top 20 news sources.

Head of News and Programmes at UTV Simon Clemison said: “I'm delighted that UTV is the market leader for people looking for stories about Northern Ireland, and also for all forms of news.

"It's also great to see people now turning to our new streaming service, ITVX, which we launched last year, and that our website is competing well with other local brands.

"It's testament to all the hard work which goes on each and every day by our teams based both in Belfast and across Northern Ireland.”

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