The Western Europe Media Consumption Report 2022

Key Takeaways

• While Western Europe is home to four of the world’s 10 largest economies by GDP, according to the World Bank, the region is not on the leading edge of digital media usage. Users across this culturally diverse swath of the continent range widely in their time spent with media activities, but collectively they lag every other region in time spent on mobile and social/messaging apps.

• The region trails virtually all others in digital activities where it isn’t also at the bottom of the pack. This is true of online TV/streaming, gaming, podcasts, music streaming, and online press, where only Central and Eastern Europe is behind its Western neighbors in time spent.

• In traditional media, however, Western Europe is at or near the top in various activities. The region leads the world in radio listening and newspaper and magazine reading, and is a close second to Latin America in TV viewing. These findings reflect the popularity of periodicals and TV networks in populous countries like the UK, Germany, and France.

Leading Ahead

Traditional media is a bright spot for Western Europe.

• In H1 2022, Western Europe led the world in time spent with broadcast radio, at 1 hour and 19 minutes (1:19) per day. This was slightly more than people spent in North America on this activity, and nearly double the rate of Southeast Asia.

• The region trails North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa in time spent watching traditional TV, but the showing is strong. The UK and France have an especially powerful broadcast TV tradition.

Hence, Western Europe has been slow to transition from broadcast to streaming TV.

• While time spent streaming has overtaken broadcast in Asia-Pacific and is close to doing so in the Middle East and Africa, in Western Europe there is still close to a 2-1 ratio between traditional and digital viewing time.

• On the other hand, Western Europe has the highest share of radio listeners and magazine and newspaper readers in the world. Broadly, this indicates an adherence to legacy media and a resistance to digital. And even in the digital spectrum, the only area in which Western Europe leads is ownership of PCs and tablets—devices whose usage is trending downward throughout the world as people gravitate toward smartphones and connected TVs.

Trailing Behind

The region is a relative laggard when it comes to time spent with digital media.

• Western Europe has the world’s lowest rates of time spent on mobile and social/messaging platforms. In both cases, time spent on each activity among internet users in the region is roughly half of global leader Latin America.

• Since 2019, consumers in Western Europe have added an average of 11 minutes to their daily time spent on social/messaging apps. That puts the region at a close second behind North America’s 15-minute gain. By contrast, in every other region, time spent on those apps has decreased or held steady over the past three years.

Although Western Europe stands out for its time spent on legacy media, over the past four years it has also made strides in the digital device domain.

• Smartphone penetration in Western Europe is ubiquitous: 96.0% of internet users reported owning a smartphone in H1 2022. Meanwhile, tablet ownership reached 51.2% of the population. Tablet penetration was highest among the affluent and those ages 45 to 54.

• Although traditional TV continues its stronghold on Western Europe households, smart TVs are making inroads. In H1 2022, smart TV ownership among the region was at 55.2%, with Italy having the highest rate at 64.3% and France the lowest at 39.3%.

• In Western Europe, 37.6% of respondents used game consoles, and 17.3% used smart home products in H1 2022. In both those device categories, the region was second only to North America.

• However, Western Europe lagged in virtual reality headsets, with only 4.6% of consumers reporting using these devices in H1 2022. The only region with lower representation was Central and Eastern Europe at 2.7%, while North America led at 8.3%.

Austria

• Austria has the dubious distinction of occupying last place in Western Europe in time spent with broadcast TV, gaming, and social/messaging.

• Historically, Austria has also tended to lag in music streaming and podcasts, but in 2021 and 2022, last place in both those categories was held by Greece and Belgium, respectively.

Belgium

• Like Austria, Belgium stands out for being in last place in Western Europe in time spent on several activities. In 2022, internet users in Belgium lagged in mobile, music streaming, podcasts, and print press.

• While Belgium doesn’t lead Western Europe in any category, it’s in second place in time spent with PC/tablets and broadcast radio; further, Belgium sits third in broadcast TV. This suggests a preference for legacy media, which reflects a similar trend in Western Europe as a whole.

Denmark

• In each of the past four years, Denmark has led Western Europe in time spent with print.

• It is also a strong performer in online press, having led that category in 2019 and 2020 but ceding first place to Greece for the past two years.

France

• France led Western Europe in 2020 and 2021 in time spent with broadcast TV, but it gave up the crown to the UK in 2022.

• For the past four years, France has held up the bottom in Western Europe in time spent with print media. This is ironic in a book-heavy culture, but the data indicates that the Francophone proclivity toward literature does not necessarily extend to newspapers and magazines.

• France has also been a laggard in time spent with broadcast radio, though a small gain in this activity moved France barely out of last place in 2022, with Spain now taking its spot.

Germany

• Except in PC/tablet time, where every country in Western Europe saw a decline, time spent on traditional and digital media activities rose modestly or held steady in Germany. However, the country didn’t lead or lag in any single category.

Greece

• Internet users in Greece over index when it comes to time spent with online press, similar to Brazil in Latin America.

• In gaming, podcasts, and music streaming, Greece increased time spent in 2022 to the point of emerging out of last place, where it was in 2021.

• Greece does not lead in broadcast TV or online TV/streaming, but it registered bigger jumps in both those categories than any other Western European nation.

Ireland

• The Emerald Isle does not lead in any category of time spent but takes silver in six: mobile, online TV/streaming, podcasts, music streaming, social/messaging (in a tie with Sweden), and gaming (in a tie with France). Some of these activities, notably TV streaming and podcasts, are dominated by English-language media, so Ireland potentially benefits from lower barriers to entry for this content than non-English-speaking countries.

Italy

• Like Germany, Italy doesn’t stand out for particularly high or low levels of time spent. In most activities, time spent made modest increases or stayed the same, though levels dropped slightly in broadcast TV, gaming, and social/messaging, and more markedly in PC/tablets.

Netherlands

• In 2022, the Netherlands registered the region’s biggest annual jumps in time spent on four activities: mobile, gaming, social/messaging, and podcasts. No other Western European country in the survey had as many region-leading spikes in time spent on activities.

• Although broadcast radio is not one of the activities in which users in the Netherlands increased their daily time, the country still led Western Europe in broadcast radio time spent in 2022, as it did from 2019 to 2021.

• The Netherlands lags all other countries in the region in time spent with PC/tablets. After a jump in 2021, this activity trended downward in the Netherlands and throughout Western Europe.

Portugal

• Portugal leads Western Europe in time spent with PC/tablets, mobile, and social/messaging. This was also the case from 2019 to 2021.

• On the flip side, users in Portugal spent less time with online press than users in any other Western European country in the survey. The same is true for 2019 through 2021.

• In recent years, Portugal has been at the bottom of the Western European pack in time spent with online TV/streaming, but in 2022, it increased time on that activity by 11 minutes, leaving Belgium in last place.

• Portugal saw the biggest spike among Western European countries in time spent with broadcast radio—a 10-minute increase.

Spain

• Spain is in last place in two traditional media categories: broadcast radio and print.

• In addition, Spain is third to last (in a tie with Sweden) in another legacy media activity: broadcast TV. This runs against the broader trend in Western Europe toward high engagement with traditional broadcasting (both radio and TV).

Sweden

• As in previous years, Sweden leads Western Europe in time spent with both music streaming and podcasting. This is a reflection of the country’s media habits, but likely also of its “home-field advantage,” with audio streaming powerhouse Spotify headquartered in Stockholm.

Switzerland

• Switzerland increased time spent on music streaming by 18 minutes—more than any other country in the region.

UK

• The UK leads Western Europe in time spent on three important activities: online TV/streaming, gaming, and broadcast TV. In the first two categories, the UK has led since 2019, while in broadcast TV, it edged ahead of France in 2022—France overtook the UK in 2021 after a 2020 tie.

• Another hallmark of the country’s time with broadcast TV: After the US, the UK leads the world in a tie with Romania. This is no doubt a reflection of how ingrained the BBC is into viewing habits throughout Britain.

• Print time spent increased in many Western European countries, including the UK, where the gain was enough to move the country out of the bottom place it occupied in 2021.