The world's online population grew by more than 240 million people in 2025, according to Facts and Figures 2025 released today by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The new estimates confirm continuing progress in expanding digital connectivity, while pointing to differences in quality that impact how users benefit from Internet use.

Globally, an estimated 6 billion people—about three-quarters of the world's population—are using the Internet in 2025, up from a revised estimate of 5.8 billion in 2024. However, 2.2 billion people remain offline, down from a revised estimate of 2.3 billion in 2024.

Overall, the report's findings underline the importance of digital infrastructure, affordable services and skills training to ensure that everyone can truly benefit from advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

“In a world where digital technologies are essential to so much of daily life, everyone should have the opportunity to benefit from being online," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “This report highlights how today's digital divides are being defined by speed, reliability, affordability, and skills, all of which we must prioritize as we work toward our mission of universal connectivity."

Connectivity's Quality Challenge
For the first time, Facts and Figures estimates the total number of 5G subscriptions, which now account for about one-third—or around 3 billion—of all mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide.

In 2025, 5G networks are estimated to cover 55% of the world's population, reflecting strong momentum in advanced mobile technologies. Coverage, however, remains uneven, with 84% of people in high-income countries having access to 5G, compared with only 4% in low-income countries.

While Facts and Figures shows that 4G and 3G services are available to most of the global population, these services are not best suited for keeping pace with advancing technologies, ITU said.

Estimates in the report reveal deep contrasts in intensity of use as an indicator of the quality gap. A typical user in a high-income country now generates nearly eight times more mobile data than one in a low-income country, according to ITU.

Facts and Figures 2025 highlights that affordability and digital skills remain essential to achieving universal and meaningful connectivity—reached when everyone can access the internet with high-quality service, at an affordable cost, whenever and wherever needed.

Globally, the median price of a data-only mobile broadband basket decreased, but access remains unaffordable in around 60% of low- and middle-income countries.

Data also suggest that most internet users possess basic skills, while more advanced capabilities—such as online safety, problem-solving and digital content creation—are being developed more slowly.

“Reliable data are the foundation of effective digital policies and of our shared vision to connect the world," said ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava. “Achieving that vision will require sustained and well-targeted efforts—in infrastructure, in digital skills, and in data systems. By working together and directing resources where the needs are greatest, we can ensure that no one is left behind and that everyone benefits fully and safely from the opportunities of the digital age."

Detailing the Globe's Digital Divides
According to Facts and Figures 2025, digital development remains closely linked to economic development, gender, and location.

The report underscores the persistence of several digital divides:

• 94% of people in high-income countries use the internet, in contrast to only 23% in low-income countries;
• 96% of those offline live in low- and middle-income countries;
• 77% of men are online compared to 71% of women;
• 85% in urban areas are online versus 58% in rural areas;
• 82% of 15–24-year-olds use the internet, compared with 72% of the rest of the population.

Facts and Figures 2025 provides global, regional and income group estimates for indicators related to Internet use, mobile network coverage, Internet subscriptions, Internet traffic, affordability, digital skills and mobile phone ownership.

Download the report here.

LONDON—Adult commercial impact of linear TV saw a decline of 4.4% in 2019, but if these trends in advertising reach continue it could result in a 21% drop from recent numbers by 2025, according to marketing and media consultancy Ebiquity.

In Ebiquity’s “Mind the Gap: A Closer Look at Video Advertising Reach in the Age of Increasing Media Fragmentation” report, the firm saw its initial prediction of a loss of 3.6% for commercial impact jump to 4.4%. A key reason for the increased drop in linear TV’s commercial impact came from a greater than expected loss among younger viewers, who are increasingly moving to online video, as well as broadcaster and subscription VOD services.

Advertising served on platforms like YouTube and Facebook were broadly able to match the reach delivered by TV for those in the 16-44 age range. Ebiquity believes that brands targeting younger consumers using YouTube will see the most incremental reach moving forward.

Even if the numbers for younger viewers were to slow down, as Ebiquity anticipates will happen, it still believes that more than half of today’s audience (56%) will disappear by 2025.

Still, focusing more on online may not be enough. When analysis shifts from a pure impression level to 50% or 100% completed reach, both YouTube and Facebook deliver less incremental reach.

“Although TV remains the primary driver of ROI, the change in media consumption habits is no secret and is a phenomenon that brands cannot safely ignore,” said Christian Polman, chief strategy officer at Ebiquity. “What our new study does is to confirm that the rate of change in viewing behavior is affecting brands. The ability to reach mass audiences at scale is critical for efficient and effective brand building. Advertisers need to take several actions today in order to close their own coverage gap and ensure success in the age of media fragmentation.”

Those four steps, according to Ebiquity, are:

• Understanding what your coverage gap is and what the implications are for your business;
• Taking a more granular approach to measurement;
• Make the right creative for the right channel or platform;
• Use structured testing to evaluate and optimize the channels you use to fill the coverage gap

The full report is available for download on Ebiquity’s website.

WASHINGTON—The NAB had just a few notes it feels the FCC should take into consideration when it comes to the modernizing of broadcast application public notifications for TV and radio stations, mostly about just how much info needs to be pushed directly to the public.

Commenting on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking dealing with the public notice of the filing of applications, the NAB came out mostly in support of the FCC’s revisions to the rules, but did pinpoint a “minor modification” to online notice requirements.

First, the FNPRM primarily deals with the revision that TV and radio stations will no longer need to publish notice of application filings in newspapers, saying they are costly and, with the decline of newspapers nationwide, no longer have the reach they previously did. The NAB fully supports the commission’s move to now require online notices.

As far as how that notice is displayed online is where the NAB begins to have some notes. It says that it agrees with the goal of directing viewers and listeners to pending applications. However, the NAB believes “it is not necessary or appropriate for the notice to include additional material in the notice that will be apparent from reviewing the application and/or the station’s online public file.” The organization says that these notices should adhere to popular website design where, while clearly identified, the notice can be less than 15 words and offer a link to the application for more details, suggesting a link labeled “Pending FCC Applications” or something akin available on the homepage.

With the proposed rulemaking, the FCC would still required on-air announcements for applications that require them, which again is something the NAB supports. Where they want to see the FCC adapt in this instance is in the delivery of these notices. The NAB says it is best to simply have a full display of the text while it is being read on-air rather than to create a text crawl with the information. The NAB believes that text crawls are typically only used for critical information and cause undue burden on broadcasters, as well as “impede innovation on new platforms and raise First Amendment issues.”

NAB’s full comments on this FNPRM can be found on the FCC’s ECFS database.

WASHINGTON—Local news is not immune from the digital revolution, as evident from a recent survey from Pew Research Center. Receiving responses from nearly 35,000 adults, the gap between Americans that prefer to get their local news from television vs. online now only stands at 4 percent, though TV still remains on top at 41 percent (online is 37 percent).

Date: August 30, 2018

Time: 12:00pm ET

It’s been a decade since the video industry saw its first sVOD service. A lot has changed over the past 10 years. Technology challenges facing content and video providers (CAVPs) have given way to business concerns as the industry matures. 

Key findings of a new research report from Broadcasting & Cable and TV Technology and Comcast Technology Solutions, underscore this shift. Fully 60% of CAVPs identify business issues as their top challenge right now. Join Editor-in-Chief Tom Butts, nScreen Media analyst Colin Dixon, and Matt Smith of Comcast Technology Solutions as they discuss the greatest concerns facing CAVPs and the strategies being deployed to tackle these challenges during this informative webinar.

Among the highlights:

• Controlling costs and maximizing customer lifetime value are important, but not the top business challenge concerning CAVPs.
• 3 key features CAVPs identified as differentiators to stay ahead of their competition.
• Why half of the responders would put most of their existing service in the cloud.

Register Here

Speakers and Moderators

Moderator: Tom Butts - Editor in Chief, TV Technology

Speaker: Colin Dixon - Chief Analyst & Founder, nScreenMedia

Speaker: Matt Smith - Executive Director, Comcast Technology Solutions

Media agency GroupM has forecast that time spent with online media worldwide in 2018 will surpass time spent with linear TV.

The report comes during NewFront week, a time when digital programmers are pitching advertisers on the importance of reaching consumers via online and social media.

Consumers worldwide will spend 3.69 hours per day with online media worldwide, compared with 3.63 hours spent with linear TV, according to the GroupM report. That gives online a 38% share and TV a 37% share of the media day, weighted by local media investment.

That compares with 2017's 3.53 hours with digital media and 3.71 hours with linear TV.

In the U.S., TV still holds an edge over online media, with 4.59 hours per day forecast for TV in 2018 versus 4.20 hours for online. But TV’s share of the U.S. market is declining. GroupM pegged it at 39% in 2018, down from 41% in 2017, while online will rise to 38% from 36%.

[Read: Cord-Cutting Spreads Beyond U.S. Borders, Says IHS]

The increase in time spent on digital corresponds with a increase in e-commerce. GroupM predicted worldwide e-commerce will increase 15% in 2018 to $2.442 trillion, or 10% of all retail.

GroupM also looked at how media was being transacted. It found that 44% of online display advertising was transacted programmatically in 2017, up from 31% in 2016. GroupM forecast that rising to 47% in 2018.

Only 22% of online video was transacted programmatically, but that’s up from 17% in 2016 and will rise to 24% this year, GroupM said.

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SAN JOSE, CALIF.—The viewing habits of those under the age of 35 have been a key area of interest for broadcasters as online and streaming platforms become more prevalent, and a recent study by Adobe Digital Insight reveals that the move away from traditional TV looks to continue to grow.

The survey of more than 1,500 U.S. consumers showed that two-thirds of consumers under the age of 35 regularly watch television through online streaming subscriptions. However, the more important number is that more than a quarter of the respondents under 35 said they are watching TV exclusively online, with another 30 percent expected to begin doing so in the next two years.

Traditional TV still has a solid base of support among those over the age of 35, with more than 40 percent saying they don’t plan to use online streaming services as their only method of watching TV. Still, online cable, direct TV or satellite is proving to be the primary method for half of the respondents over 35.

Another result of the move toward online streaming services is the rise in binge watching, again, especially among younger viewers. ADI reports that more than 50 percent of consumers between 13 and 22 say they prefer to binge watch TV series. A third of those over 35 said they prefer the traditional one episode a week.

Despite the move to more online sources, TVs are still the preferred box to view the content. More than 75 percent of all respondents prefer a 35-inch or larger TV screen to watch content. How they watch content through the TV is what is changing, as gaming devices and smart TVs join cable boxes as the most popular devices used to access entertainment at home among 13-34 year olds. Cable box, smart TVs and Blu-ray players are the most popular for 35 and older.

ADI’s study also looked into the way that viewers consume news, sports and where they prefer to watch movies. To see the details on these subjects, click here.

PORTLAND, ORE.—Users can now get Dante certified from anywhere with access to online, as Audinate has announced that it is making the entirety of its Level 1 Dante Certification program available online.

The Dante Certification program provides a way for system designers, engineers and other to learn about Dante with in-depth training. There are two levels, with Level 1 available both in person and now online, and Level 2, which is only available in person.

Level 1 certification tests proficiency of basic Dante audio networking concepts, covering audio networking fundamentals, basic networking concepts, creating a small-scale Dante network, and using Dante Controller and Dante Soundcard. The course consists of five videos and a 40 question test. When completed, participants receive a certificate and are registered in Audinate’s internal database of certified professionals.

For more information on the online course, visit www.audinate.com/cert-info.

NEW YORK—Vdeo-iQ has gotten the ball rolling on its online database, now offering information on nearly 100,000 video products from more than 300 manufacturers, including Sony, SAM, AJA and Grass Valley. The new database is an expansion of AV-iQ, a pro-AV database.

Vdeo-iQ users will be able utilize the product data comparison tool and research products with the case studies library. Additional features include a search function, project lists, and the ability to save and projects, share them, or create a customized list of preferences.

Manufacturers are able to add their products to the database for free by contacting productsupport@vdeo-iq.com. Sponsorships on the site are also available.

AV-iQ and Vdeo-iQ, are owned by NewBay.

NEW YORK—A couple of major snow storms hit both the East Coast and the Midwest in recent weeks. To get necessary emergency weather information, the Television Bureau of Advertising revealed as part of an analysis, people often turn to their local TV stations’ digital platforms, creating large traffic spikes for the stations’ online and mobile sites.

During Winter Storm Jonas, station websites for East Coast broadcasters like WGAL, covering Harrisonburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York, Pa., generated 10 million page views and 1.7 million sessions, according to the analysis, more than five times its normal traffic. The report also indicates that WBAL in Baltimore doubled its app users, tripled its total online sessions, and had quadrupled its page views.

In the Midwest, during a winter storm that took place on Feb. 2, markets also saw mass jumps in traffic. The website of KQDS in Duluth, Minn., had a 400 percent increase in page views from the previous day. KAAL in Rochester, Minn., saw its site and app traffic more than double compared to the previous day, and increase six times from the daily average in January. Stations in Minneapolis and Sioux Falls, S.D., tripled in page views and number of visits.

These results appear to back-up the study “American Conversation” by Keller Fray, which claims people seeking local and regional news visit local TV station websites more frequently than social media platforms, national TV websites and all other Internet sites.

“Data confirms that when vital information is most in demand, local residents not only predominantly rely on local broadcast TV for local and regional news updates, they are also utilizing local TV station websites as a primary source for timely updates and information, especially during weather emergencies” said Steve Lanzano, president and CEO of TVB.