8.08.2022 Media market
Media in Poland 2022. How Poles Watch, Listen, Read, and Surf the Web
Krzysztof Fiedorek
Nearly two million Poles have access to a TV but do not watch television. For radio, the analogous group amounts to 8% of radio owners. Two-thirds of Poles reach for printed press, even occasionally, while the number of mobile internet users exceeds desktop users by nearly three million.
source: National Media Institute, analysis: Reporterzy.info, declarative data for the three months preceding the surveyThe National Media Institute’s Establishment Survey provides insight into how and how often Poles use traditional and electronic media. Surveyors examined what devices people have at home and what they can access at work or school. The results are as follows:
- Access to TV: 92.0%
- Access to radio: 80.3%
- Access to a computer/tablet: 66.0%
- Access to a mobile phone/smartphone: 88.5%
However, access to a media device does not necessarily mean it is used regularly.
Television
In the 30 days preceding the survey, 90.2% of respondents reported watching television. This translates to 33.1 million Poles, but it’s only 96% of those with access to a TV. Conclusion: two million Poles could watch linear TV but choose not to.
In a longer, three-month period, 92.1% of respondents confirmed watching TV, equating to nearly 33.8 million people. Among age groups, those aged 65+ are the most frequent TV viewers.
- TV viewership by age group
- 4-9 years: 91.5%
- 10-15 years: 95.2%
- 16-24 years: 88.1%
- 25-34 years: 87.0%
- 35-44 years: 90.4%
- 45-54 years: 93.0%
- 55-64 years: 95.2%
- 65+ years: 95.9%
Radio
Radio listening was reported by 75.2% of respondents, meaning that 27.6 million people listened to the radio at least once in the past month. Among radio owners, nearly 8% did not turn on their device even once during the month before the survey.
In a three-month period, the number of radio listeners increases significantly, reaching 80.4% of the population, or 29.5 million people—1.9 million more than in the one-month period. Radio is least popular among teenagers and most popular among those aged 35-44.
- Radio listenership by age group
- 4-9 years: 71.7%
- 10-15 years: 65.7%
- 16-24 years: 78.5%
- 25-34 years: 83.5%
- 35-44 years: 85.9%
- 45-54 years: 84.4%
- 55-64 years: 82.4%
- 65+ years: 77.9%
Internet
At least 76.8% of respondents use the internet occasionally. In a monthly timeframe, internet users slightly outnumber radio listeners at 28.2 million. According to the National Media Institute, the devices used to access the internet include:
- 26.4 million mobile phone owners (93.9% of internet users)
- 23.6 million computer and tablet owners (83.8% of internet users)
- 15.8 million Smart TV owners (56.2% of internet users)
Over three months, the number of internet users grows by just 300,000, indicating that those who use the internet tend to do so regularly. Among those aged 10 to 50, almost everyone surfs the web. However, over a three-month period, internet usage slightly trails radio usage.
- Internet usage by age group
- 4-9 years: 77.6%
- 10-15 years: 98.6%
- 16-24 years: 99.1%
- 25-34 years: 99.1%
- 35-44 years: 96.5%
- 45-54 years: 89.0%
- 55-64 years: 68.3%
- 65+ years: 28.7%
Print Media
Reaching for newspapers or magazines at least once a quarter is reported by 65.7% of respondents, equating to 24 million readers. Nearly half of this group also reads online editions. Over 11.3 million people, or 31% of the population, read e-publications. The older the age group, the higher the popularity of print media, with readership reaching up to three-quarters among the oldest Poles.
- Print readership by age group
- 4-9 years: 24.6%
- 10-15 years: 45.3%
- 16-24 years: 65.0%
- 25-34 years: 64.9%
- 35-44 years: 69.4%
- 45-54 years: 73.7%
- 55-64 years: 75.3%
- 65+ years: 72.8%
* * *
The National Media Institute’s Establishment Survey was conducted between July 2021 and March 2022 on a representative sample of 17,143 people aged 4 and older. Full results are available at https://kim.gov.pl/wyniki-badan/
COMMERCIAL BREAK
New articles in section Media market
Radio, Streaming, and Podcasts. Total Audio 2024 Report about Poland
Krzysztof Fiedorek
Audio content is a daily companion for Poles. According to the Total Audio 2024 study conducted by Adres:Media on behalf of the Radio Research Committee, as many as 90% of respondents listen to audio content at least once a week, and 80% do so daily. The average listening time is nearly five hours per day.
Automation of Disinformation. Global Risks Report 2025 and Media
Krzysztof Fiedorek
Disinformation and information manipulation have ranked first among global threats in both the two-year and ten-year perspectives. A particularly concerning factor is that social media algorithms often favor controversial or shocking content, further fueling disinformation.
Radio in Europe. How Are Listener Habits Changing?
KFi
Radio remains one of the most popular media in Europe, but data from the European Broadcasting Union's report "Audience Trends: Radio 2024" shows clear changes in listener habits. The average European spent 2 hours and 13 minutes per day listening to the radio in 2023. This is 18 minutes less than five years ago but only one minute less than the previous year.
See articles on a similar topic:
Numbers Stations in Radio. For Puzzle and Cryptography Enthusiasts
Krzysztof Fiedorek
They broadcast seemingly meaningless strings of numbers and letters, sometimes short, encrypted messages. Some even play music between coded transmissions or broadcast propaganda. For over a hundred years, number stations have puzzled radio enthusiasts and mystery hunters. What do we know about them?
Virtual Influencers Perceived as More Authentic than Real Ones
Agnieszka Kliks-Pudlik
Virtual influencers are fictional, generated characters that imitate the appearance and behaviour of real people. They have millions of followers. They are perceived by Gen-Alpha as even more authentic than real people, which creates many challenges, says Dr. Ada Florentyna Pawlak.
Artificial Intelligence is ALREADY Outperforming Humans in Creativity
Krzysztof Fiedorek
ChatGPT, an AI model based on the GPT-4 engine, achieved better results than the vast majority of students in the standard Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), which evaluates creativity. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Montana.
The Podcast Market in Poland. Research by Wprost and Tandem Media
Krzysztof Fiedorek
How many Polish internet users listen to podcasts? Where and how do we listen? How and why do we choose episodes? Two major studies on this topic were recently released. One by Wprost, the other by Tandem Media from Agora Radio Group. We present both for data comparison and insights.
