My media consumption diet
Posted on Monday, February 26th, 2007 at 11:38pm. #
Reading Jeremiah Owyang’s media consumption diet, I thought it would be interesting to do mine. As his is, it’s the most-used on the top; the least-used on the bottom.
Web: This is where I get the majority of my news, and the majority of my reading. Most of it is done through Google Reader; some of it through Media UK’s news feeds. Like Jeremiah, I rarely go to news websites any more except through direct links. Occasionally I’ll read the New York Times online. Probably two to three hours of web media a day (apart from working).
Radio: Surprisingly not in Jeremiah’s list. But then, he lives in the US, where radio is particularly poor, it seems to me. At work, I have to listen to Virgin Radio most of the time (only fair: they pay me) but at home there’s over an hour a day of BBC Radio Five Live, plus LBC, and BBC Radio 4. I don’t listen to music radio at home much; when I do, it’s likely to be Chill, 6music, or Virgin Radio Classic Rock. At ten hours a day, this is my highest sector of media consumption, though given it’s not always my own choice, I’ve marked it as my second-highest choice (which is where it probably would be).
Podcasts: Again, surprisingly not in Jeremiah’s list, but heavily in mine. From CNet’s “Buzz Out Loud” to the audio version of “Cranky Geeks”, “On the Media”, and LBC’s Iain Lee, I listen heavily to podcasts; normally for over an hour a day, and more if I find myself driving.
Music: Given that I don’t listen to music radio as much, I do listen to a lot of music. I mostly use Last.fm, or my iPod on shuffle; whether at work, at home, or on the tube. I listen to at least an hour of music a day, though much of the time on a background volume.
Books: Well, Jeremiah includes his, so I will mine. But I’m not very cerebral; normally reading travel writing or legal dramas. Currently, it’s the Mayor of Lexington Avenue, a book which has reduced me to tears a few times (but there again, I’m very tired at the moment, which is a good excuse). I get around an hour of reading in a day, on the tube.
TV: Yes, but normally stuck on Sky News or BBC News 24; and normally as background while surfing the web. Programmes that make me stop and watch are Top Gear, or Al Murray; but that’s really about it. Probably three hours a day; but actually paying any attention, less than half an hour. The weekend brings more TV use: whether something’s in HD or not will normally sway, at least a little, what I watch. Anything that’s pre-recorded will get the ads fast-forwarded through on the Sky+ box.
Magazines: I get a few magazines at home: Wired, MacUser, The Economist, and CAMRA’s “What’s Brewing”. I normally read them in a sitting. I’m not a big magazine reader. I find disposal of the dead wood is a hassle (given that I want to recycle them).
Movies: No. I watch less than one movie a year – including the TV, I watch around two movies a year. Don’t like them.
Newspapers: Occasionally, I’ll pick up a free newspaper; but rarely read paid-for newspapers. When I do, it’s the local paper, The Guardian, or the Independent.
The majority of advertising, I guess, that I’m subjected to is on the radio – both on the service I work for (oh, the Ocado yodeller, there’s a winner) and on services like LBC. I found myself actively searching for an advertiser on the web after hearing it in the car last weekend (and I’m hardly the average radio ad listener, having written them for eight years!) The only real other advertising I see is on Sky News and in the magazines (where it’s part of the content for me, being honest).
What was surprising about this is that I spend more time with books than actively watching the TV. This wasn’t, quite, what I thought I did. Am I very different from you? I’d be interested to hear your response in the comments, or by a trackback from your blog.
