Media in brief 5

Radio Audience Grows: Last year, 81.43 percent of the Polish population in the 15-75 age group listened to the radio every day, according to a Radio Truck survey by AGB Nielsen Media Research company. This translates into more than 24.5 million daily listeners, the largest number since AGB Nielsen Media Research started to conduct such surveys. In 2008, the nationwide radio audience totaled just over 23 million, AGB Nielsen Media Research says. Between 2001 and 2008, the percentage of radio listeners was around 75-76 percent. The average daily radio listening time increased to four hours and 42 minutes in 2009, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research. As in previous years, the average Pole spent more time listening to the radio than watching television. The average viewer watched television for four hours every day, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research. Among nationwide radio stations, commercial broadcaster RMF FM and Polish Radio 3 and 2 attracted more listeners than in previous years. Largest TV Stations Lose Viewers: The combined audience of Poland's four largest television broadcasters-public channels TVP1 and TVP2 and commercial stations Polsat and TVN-shrank to 67.01 percent in 2009, from 71.61 percent in 2008, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research. The broadcasters lost viewers to increasingly numerous specialty channels in a trend that is set to continue in the coming years, much as elsewhere in Europe, AGB Nielsen Media Research said. The company's data show that TVN was the only broadcaster of the four largest TV stations to avoid a year-on-year drop in viewership in December. TVN's audience increased to 16.09 percent that month, from 15.32 percent in December 2008. Polsat's market share dropped to 14.87 percent from 16.2 percent, TVP1 slipped to 21.14 percent from 23.2 percent, and TVP2 slid to 15.76 percent from 17.51 percent. TV Puls to Launch New Channel: Commercial broadcaster TV Puls plans to launch a new channel intended for children this year. The channel, called TV Puls Kids, will be available in "digital over-the-air format," the broadcaster said. "The children's channel accords with the station's strategy, under which TV Puls offers family entertainment," said Dariusz Dąbski, president and a 75-percent shareholder in the station. The remaining 25 percent is held by the Franciscan order. TV Puls has been looking for a core investor since the withdrawal of News Corp. in the fall of 2008. Its share in the nationwide audience was 1.13 percent in 2009, up from 0.8 percent in 2008, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research. The share was smaller than that of other private over-the-air stations. Americans Loyal to Printed Newspapers: Despite the expansion of the internet, people in the United States still regard printed newspapers and magazines as one of the main sources of news and entertainment, according to a survey by the Washington-based Rosen Group. The survey shows that the position of the printed press is still strong in the United States, with around 83 percent of those polled saying that printed newspapers are an important source of news and only 17 percent stating the opposite. Most those surveyed identified socio-political and economic weeklies as an important source of information. More than half those polled said they rely on printed newspapers for the latest news and almost 57 percent said they use online editions of printed newspapers. The research shows that glossy magazines are still the main source of entertainment, lifestyle and how-to information, with 27 percent of respondents saying they look for such information in color magazines. A quarter of those surveyed said they look for such information on the internet and 10 percent said they look for it in printed newspapers. More than 80 percent said they subscribe to magazines, and more than 50 percent say they subscribe to newspapers. Less than 30 percent said they subscribe to newsletters. More Spam: Spam levels have climbed to more than 90 percent of all e-mail, according to security software producer Symantec. Only one in 10 e-mail messages is sent for a purpose other than advertising, Symantec says. As electronic spam is the cheapest form of advertising, some spammers send up to several hundred million e-mail messages daily, according to Symantec. The cost is insignificant and the advertising effect almost certain, given the scale of the practice. In its latest report, Symantec says that spam messages already account for 90.4 percent of all e-mail messages. As many as 100 billion junk e-mails are sent by spammers every day, according to the company. Source: The Warsaw Voice