Global Media Intelligence 2019: Philippines

Key Features

The GlobalWebIndex data paints a picture of extreme immersion in digital media and devices among consumers in the Philippines.

• Smartphones were effectively universal among the internet users ages 16 to 64 polled in H1 2019, with 98.5% owning one. Some 15.2% owned a feature phone. Penetration of desktop and laptop PCs was substantially lower than that of smartphones, at 67.7%. Just under 38% of respondents owned a tablet.
• In H1 2018, the combined time internet users spent on PCs, smartphones and tablets exceeded 10 hours per day, on average, according to GlobalWebIndex. Similarly remarkable figures are apparent a year later: an average 4 hours, 58 minutes (4:58) spent with PCs and tablets daily and 5:17 spent on mobile. These figures should be taken with a grain of salt, though, bearing in mind that the surveyed group was heavily weighted toward young people and those living in urban areas (see note below).
• Internet users in the Philippines have maintained their commitment to social media, too; as in H1 2018, social networking consumed more than 4 hours on a typical day.
• Amid all the enthusiasm for digital media, broadcast TV still scores well. Nearly 93% of internet users said they’d watched live TV in the prior month, spending 2:21 per day, on average.
• By comparison, online TV and video streaming claimed an estimated 1:28 per day. But digital video viewing was hardly a minority activity. Overall, 92.8% of internet users had streamed video of some kind digitally in the prior month—virtually the same share that had watched live broadcast TV.
• More than three-quarters of respondents had used a broadcaster’s catch-up or on-demand service to watch TV programs in the prior month, and over 70% had used a paid subscription service such as Netflix.
• We shouldn’t forget that these newer entertainment options coexist with other longer-standing ones. For example, just 13.3% of respondents said they owned a game console in H1 2019, yet the average time spent gaming per day, per internet user, was estimated at 1:38. Clearly, keen gamers are clocking phenomenal times with that activity, either on a console or online.
• Digital audio consumption was almost as widespread as digital video, reaching 90.7% of internet users, according to GlobalWebIndex. Music streaming alone accounted for more than 2 hours daily, on average.
• The broadcast radio audience in the Philippines remains large, with penetration of nearly 70%, but the average time spent each day with live radio, at 53 minutes, was less than half the time spent daily with digital music.