MANILA, Philippines – More Filipinos living in urban areas log on to the Internet than listen to the radio or read newspapers and magazines.

According to the TNS Digital Life 2012 study, which was presented to the media on Tuesday, the digital medium has now overtaken radio and extended its lead over print.

Results showed that on a daily basis, 45% connect to the Internet, up from 36% in last year's study.

Radio listenership, on the other hand, fell to 36% from last year’s 40%.

Readership of newspapers and magazines dropped substantially in this year’s study. This year, only 12% said they read newspapers daily, down from 22% in the 2011 study. Magazine readership also shrunk to only 4% this year from 11% in the previous year.

TV viewership, meanwhile, continued to increase, with 89% of the respondents saying they watch TV every day, up from 77% in last year's study.

Overall, the study revealed that 54% of urban Filipinos said they have accessed the Internet in the past four weeks, with usage greatest among those aged 34 and below. A total of 85% of urban Filipinos aged 16 to 20 years old said they used the Internet in the past four weeks, followed by those aged 21 to 24 years old at 74%. The study showed that Internet use declines along with age.

More males were also seen accessing the Internet at 58% compared to females at 52%.

According to Lester Sualog, the leader for the TNS Digital Life initiative, the study estimates that some 12.2 million urban Filipinos have accessed the Internet, and virtually all of them, or 12 million, are active in social networking sites largely because of Facebook.

Half of Internet users access the Internet at home through personal computers (50%), while 49% said they go to Internet cafes.

Other highlights of the study:

• Of the 12 million active users of social networking sites, 2.5 million have relationships with “brands” either by following them or “liking” them. And of this number, 2 million said they have written about these brands, mostly to praise the brand (63%) and share their opinion (48%). Only 26% said they criticized the brands.
• Around 1.7 million netizens use the Internet to do research on products and services. In particular, 18% said they search the web exclusively for information when buying a new car.
• There is a growing number of netizens who follow politicians and political groups on social networking sites (23%), although most (81%) said they follow international brands.
• While Filipinos still prefer to buy from stores, 8% said they have made travel or holiday purchases online, followed by computer peripherals (2%), clothes and shoes (1%) and computers, laptops and tablets (1%).
• Filipino teenagers between 16 and 20 years old have the most number of friends on social media networks with an average of 613 friends.

The TNS Digital Life 2012 study involved 1,000 respondents in urban areas nationwide, from ages 16 to 65 years old. It was done in the last quarter of 2011. It is part of a larger worldwide study that covered 60 countries with over 70,000 respondents.