Internet consumption and advertising gain ground over other media channels in Romania

Romanian daily online users have increased fivefold during the past ten years, while printed press, radio and TV have all lost rather large drops in audience, according to data released by the Romanian Transmedia Audit Bureau (BRAT).

While in 2005 48 percent of city population read at least one printed publication daily, the share dropped to 13 percent in 2015. Radio has registered a significant drop also, from 59 percent to 36 percent. People show less interest for TV also, with a 13 percent decrease in audience during the past ten years (from 89 percent to 76 percent).

Outdoor advertising seems to be the only channel that has maintained constant, since the consumption pattern is only dependent on people’s daily transport habits.

The Internet recorded a spectacular increase from 30 minutes daily ten years ago, to here hours a day in 2015. This number is obtained by reporting median times reported to the whole urban population. Taking into account only Internet users, the timeline covers over 280 minutes, which surpasses even TV time and outdoor advertising.

Outdoor advertising, however, is the champion in terms of time exposure, calculations being based on time spent by people outside of building. The media is increased heavily by the weekend, a study showing that Romanians spend 22 minutes more outside daily as they did ten years ago. This takes outdoor advertising to a median of four hours daily.

When it comes to advertising investments, they seem to follow the consumption trend, with online expenses having a 17 percent share of the whole market in 2015, while in 2005 it held a mere 1 percent. The printed press saw a hard time during the last ten years, dropping fivefold, from 24 percent to 5 percent. Radio has stayed constant at a 6 percent market share and outdoor advertising dropped to 8 percent. TV still holds the first place, absorbing up to 64 percent of publicity budgets.

Comparing these figures and examples to other countries, apparently in Romania TV registered a large share of investments and print a small one, while sharing similar values of average time spent on each channel, the study concludes.

BRAT is the organization that measures media audiences in Romania for print and online media, audits circulation (print) and monitors investments in advertising (print, online, radio and outdoor). Measurements and monitoring by BRAT are independent.

Natalia Martian