Virus on the screen: consumption habits of the television audience in Spain and Italy (2019-2022)

ABSTRACT

The effects of the pandemic affect multiple areas of our lives, including those related to the media. In the television field, the pandemic came at a time of great transformation in the sector. After more than two years since its inception, this research addresses a diachronic study that covers four years, and comparative between Italy and Spain. Starting from a longer time perspective constitutes the differential value of this study since it aims to assess what dynamics subsisted or changed after confinement once the process of returning to normality began. This research intends to know, through a quantitative descriptive exploratory methodology, the linear consumption of television by the population of both countries, trying to identify the habits of the audience and the variations in the behavior of the population with respect to the television medium. Analysis carried out allows us to confirm that media consumption during the first phase of the pandemic was exceptional in the evolution of television in both countries, but it did not introduce new dynamics but instead strengthened existing trends. © 2022 Revista Mediterranea de Comunicacion. All rights reserved.