The online TV guide Vokrug TV and print guide Panorama TV, which are part of Gazprom-Media Holding, as well as the Russian Union of Youth conducted a study on the preferences of modern youth regarding television viewing.
Students from more than 300 Russian universities took part in the study by answering questionnaires in the period from September 17 to December 29, 2018. In total, the organizers received 2,296 answered questionnaires. The study’s target audience were students aged 17-20.
The questionnaire was made up of four blocks: questions about television viewing experience, preferences for best television shows and presenters, a creative essay on the topic “Television of the future”, and socio-demographic and contact details.
The study results showed that the majority of respondents (67.7%) watch television, while a third of the respondents (32.3%) do not watch it at all, or do it less than once a week. At the same time, the ratio of viewing television content on TV sets as opposed to online is almost the same, with a small margin in favor of online - 45.6% and 47.3%, respectively. As such, two out of three students watch TV content without preferring a particular way of consuming it, but simply choosing the most convenient platform for themselves. When viewing TV content online, mobile devices are the most popular, followed by laptops, then the home computer, and lastly, the tablet.
Student preferences in terms of channels were as follows: TNT (58.6% of votes), STS (48.7%), Channel One (38.2%), Friday! (33.8%), MUZ-TV (26.5%), Match TV (21.4%).
Survey participants also named their favourite programs in five categories. The following television projects received the most votes:
Favorite educational program - Umniki i Umnitsy (Clever Boys, Clever Girls) (27% of votes);
Favorite game program - Chto? Gde? Kogda? (What? Where? When?) (49%);
Favorite entertainment program - Comedy Club (51%);
Favorite sports program - Vse na Match! (All to the Match!) (34%);
Favorite reality show - Bitva Ekstrasensov (Psychic Challenge) (36%);
The best male TV presenter, according to the survey, was Ivan Urgant, while the best TV female presenter was Anastasia Ivleeva.
The study also revealed that 86.5% of students do not watch cable TV. For those who do watch it, the most popular TV channels were Discovery Channel, National Geographic, TV1000, Animal Planet, and NST.
Most of the respondents - 54.2% - regard TV advertising well, in general, and only 17% have an extremely negative opinion about commercial breaks.
Students also took part in a contest by preparing an essay on the topic “Television of the future”. The organizers selected the three best essays and gave prizes to their authors.