Emap closes teen mag as broadband hits 11m homes

Broadband is now in use in half the homes in the country as consumers increasingly desert traditional forms of media for web-based information and entertainment services, new figures showed yesterday.

Ofcom, the communications regulator, said that 11.1 million households and small businesses now had a high-speed broadband internet connection, while more than 70 per cent of younger consumers use social networking websites, replacing more traditional media in the spare time of many teenagers.

The figures came as the media giant Emap "suspended" publication of a leading magazine for teenagers, Sneak, admitting it was unable to compete with the internet.

Ofcom also discovered that television is of declining interest to many tech-savvy 16 to 24-year-olds. On average, these viewers spend an hour less a day in front of the television than the average viewer. Additionally, younger viewers are switching off terrestrial channels, with only 58 per cent of their viewing hours spent on the traditional stations compared with 74 per cent in 2001.

Mirroring the rise in broadband in the UK, young people are spending more time in front of computer screens. The figure of more than 70 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds who use social networking websites compares with about 41 per cent of all UK internet users who use such sites. More than 37 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds have contributed to a blog or an online forum compared with 14 per cent of overall internet users.

Ofcom said the online-centric consumption of media in this age group has resulted in a sharp reduction in the number of young people reading national newspapers and magazines.

Ed Richards, the chief operating officer at Ofcom, said the trends were a result of using the internet from an early age. "If you are using the internet from the age of eight or nine, that is way before you start buying a newspaper," he said. "It is not the death of any particular medium but an adjustment is taking place," he said. He pointed to the success of stations spun out of the traditional terrestrial television stations and online newspaper reports as examples of media adjusting to new trends.

However, the Emap announcement on Sneak, which covered celebrity gossip for a young market, was ominous for traditional media companies. Emap said: "The teenage magazine market is one of the most challenging sectors in the industry with increasing numbers of teenagers choosing new media platforms to satisfy their interests. Despite the very best efforts of the publishing and editorial team, who have been producing a great magazine week in, week out, Sneak is no longer a viable proposition on the news-stand for Emap."

Circulations in the teen market have plummeted 25 per cent this year. Sneak, which launched four years ago, was down to some 74,000 sales, from more than 100,000 at its peak.

The Ofcom report showed that during 2005, retail spending on communications services in the UK has passed through £50bn for the first time, representing 4.1 per cent of gross domestic product. Nevertheless, consumers are getting more value for money as prices in the mobile, fixed-line and broadband internet sectors have rapidly declined. The average spend on broadband, mobile and fixed-line telecoms was £76 a month per household at the end of 2005 compared with about £110 in 2001.

Ofcom also said the £1.3bn spent on internet advertising in 2005 was three times larger than that invested in advertising over commercial radio stations.