Want to know the most popular media in Kosovo? What do they look for when they surf the web? Where do they get informed?

We asked Index Kosova to run a study on these matters. In this blog, we are sharing with you the main findings to answer the questions above.  It also brushes through Kosovan’s behavior concerning the media.

Who, what, when, and where?

Let’s take it a question at a time.

The target group for this study is our general population over 15 years old. The sample group is randomly selected from the inside database of Index Kosova. The number of people interviewed is a total of 1200.

The objective of this study was to gather data on the media usage, frequency, and trends of the people in our country.

The interviewees were contacted by phone between the 25th of May and June 2nd of 2021.

According to their answers, this first graph shows the daily (or almost daily) media usage of the TV, Internet, and specifically News Portals. The is an exponential growth of internet usage that surpasses the other two. This graph covers the period between May 2017 and May 2021. News Portals present an exception to this for they were added in later.

Which are the most popular media?

This study provides valuable insights into our media preferences. Probably the most important one is the answer to the question: Where do we get our news from? Statistics say that the internet has become our main messenger.

As it is clearly shown in this graph, the internet prevails as an informational media. Followed by the television, although coming in far behind. Whereas radio, newspapers, and magazines come in crawling on the bottom.

A drastic cross-over is that between the internet and the television. This shows the impact that the pandemic has had on the way we consume media. While the TV has taken a hit, the internet has thrived.

The study

The results of this study are derived from 4 sets of questions that were posed to the participants. Before we move on to the answers, let’s show the questions:

1. Which social media application do you personally use the most?

2. Do you click on ads you see/ads you see on websites/ads you see on social media?

3. Do you watch the ads shown on TV?

4. Do you trust (very much, somewhat, not that much, or at all) ads you see on websites/social media/TV?

At first glance, these questions look very simple. However, the answers tell more than a short “yes” or “no”. This study doesn’t just make the distinction of the media channel, but also the demographic of the respondents. Is it a man or a woman answering? What’s their age? What do they do? What’s their education level? Also, where in Kosovë do they come from?

To be exact, the demographic categories have been these:

Main findings

Facebook might not be cool anymore, but it is certainly still popular. In fact, it is the most popular social media platform in Kosovë!

The interviewees share these preferences regarding social media channels:

But, our people and ads are just not clicking!

The majority of the people in our study watch TV ads (51.7%), but the majority also do not click on them (46.2%). The ones who do, tend to do it more on socials (44.6%), rather than websites (32%). 

A whole ‘notha story is happening over at the TV!

More than half the people watch TV ads. Most of them are elders – Ok Boomer!

Media Myth – Busted!

A common belief in our country is that the ones who spend most of their time on social media either lack the education or are unemployed. This study busted this myth! Apart from the elders, these two groups of people use social media the least. 66% of those who lack education and 48% of the unemployed have claimed they do not use any social media.

Take everything with a grain of salt

In case you haven’t noticed, study limitations are obvious throughout this article.

Some of them are the sample size of the participants and the answer-based methodology. This means that the accuracy of the findings depends on the participants’ honesty.

Do you trust ’em?