The research looks at UK adults’ and teens’ news consumption across television, radio, print and online platforms, and tells us about how and where different people like to get their news.

You can take a look at the research in full, and we’ve gathered some of the top findings here.

People are increasingly going online for their news

More people now consume news online than through TV, radio or newspapers. However, traditional providers are rated more highly for trust, accuracy and impartiality.

In contrast to TV, which has seen a decline in use, the use of online providers for news continues to grow, with online news consumption increasing from 64% in 2018 to 70% in 2025 and is on a par with TV and on-demand at 68%.

Six in ten adults use some form of online intermediary (such as social media, search engine or news aggregator) for their news. Meta (39%) and Google (34%) services are the most commonly-used intermediaries.

Among adults who get their news direct from news organisations’ websites and apps, BBC News (59%) is the most used, followed by Sky News (21%), The Guardian (20%) and the Daily Mail (14%). For those news sources that operate exclusively online, LADbible was the most commonly used (11%), followed by HuffPost (9%) and Buzzfeed News (8%).

Social media is now used by half of UK adults (51%) to get their news, with Facebook remaining the most popular social media platform – used by 30% of the people we spoke to.

However, despite Facebook’s popularity, its parent company Meta’s platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp – have seen their popularity decline gradually among people using social media for news year on year since 2022 (from 84% to 77% in 2025).

Overall news consumption remains high

Despite a fall in people’s interest in news, they still feel the need to keep up to speed with it, with almost all (96%) UK adults watching, listening or reading news in some form. We estimate that UK adults spend, on average, 61 minutes a day consuming news.

The BBC continues to be the most-widely accessed news provider in the UK, reaching 67% of all adults. This is followed by Meta (39%), Google and ITV (both 34%).

Public service broadcasters (PSBs) continue to play a key role in peoples’ news consumption, with 74% of adults using at least one PSB news service and BBC One continuing to be the most-used single source. However, the PSBs’ role is decreasing with BBC One, ITV and Channel 4 all seeing their usage decline since 2019.

Preferences differ depending on age

For young people, online platforms and social media are used far more than traditional sources, with eight in ten 16-24s using online platforms to get their news. Among this age group, social media remains the main way to access news, used by three-quarters of people we spoke to.

Older people are more likely to use TV and newspapers. Nine in ten of those aged 75+ use TV (including on-demand) and almost half use newspapers (both print and online). Among this age group only four in ten get their news from online providers and just two in ten use social media for news.

As we’ve seen in previous years, children aged 12-15 tend to be more interested in lighter types of news compared to more serious news. The most popular topics for this age group are: sports/sports personalities (19%); music news/singers (17%); celebrities/famous people; and fashion and beauty (both 10%).

However, we also found that X is being used by 12- to 15-year-olds for weightier news topics, such as politics and current affairs.

Trust remains an important factor

People who use traditional news platforms – such as TV, print and radio – rate trust, accuracy and impartiality on them more highly than those who use online or social media news platforms.

Around seven in ten users of TV, print and radio rated them well for accuracy and trust. This is higher than people who use online sources, with six in ten rating them highly for accuracy and trust, and social media users, of whom four in ten rated those platforms highly.

Interestingly, despite their tendency to go online for news, 12-15s rate traditional platforms more highly than online sources. Half of this age group said social media provided trustworthy news stories, compared to 82% for TV and 78% for radio. However, trust in news in social media is rising among this age group, up from 45% last year to 52% in 2025.

While use of traditional news platforms is declining and online and social media use has increased over the last couple of years, there’s been stability in the extent to how people rate them for accuracy, trust and impartiality. However, while ratings for news on TV and social media in 2025 are very similar to the ratings in 2018, ratings have increased in the same period for print newspapers, from six in ten in 2018, to seven in ten in 2025.

According to Ofcom’s Public Service Media Tracker 2024, around three in five PSB viewers say they deliver trusted and accurate UK news well. This figure has remained stable for the past four years, with PSBs consistently delivering well in this area.

People aged 75+ are more likely to say PSBs deliver this well compared to the overall total, while 35–54-year-olds are less likely. In addition, those in higher income groups (65%) are also more likely than those in lower-income groups to say PSBs deliver this well (65% versus 57%).