U.K. Young Adults Favor Internet, Mobile Phones Over TV Sets

LONDON: New research from Ofcom reports that many Britons aged between 12 and 24 would prefer to live without a television set than without a mobile phone or Internet access.

For the country as a whole, TV remains ranked as the medium that would be missed the most. However, respondents aged between 16 and 24 said they would miss mobile phones (28 percent) and the Internet (26 percent) ahead of the TV set (23 percent). Similarly, kids aged 12 to 15 said they’d miss their mobile (26 percent) over the Internet (24 percent) and the TV set (24 percent).

Ofcom reports that 74 percent of U.K. homes have Internet access, with the average adult spending 14.2 hours per week online, as compared with 15.6 hours for kids 12 to 15, who spend about 17.2 hours watching TV every week.

The data was released as part of the adult media literacy report, which surveyed 2,117 adults aged 16+, and the children’s media literacy report, which surveyed 2,071 children aged 5-15 and their parents.