Internews and Interdisciplinary Analysts (IDA) conducted National Opinion Polls Wave III in September 2014. This presentation covers the media survey findings.

A thorough media survey carried out by Internews and Interdisciplinary Analysts in September 2014, provides valuable data about urban and rural Nepali’s communication habits and preferences prior to the April 2015 earthquake.

Local media outlets and humanitarian responders can use information from the Nationwide National Opinion Survey, combined with data about communication infrastructure since the quake, to understand how best to communicate Nepalis and to ensure they can access the information they need.

View the complete presentation. In summary the key findings include:

• 35% of people interviewed had family members working outside of Nepal
• 86% of households had a working mobile phone (92.5% in urban; 84.3% in rural areas)
• 49% had a working television (79.5% in urban; 42.3% in rural areas)
• 45% a working radio (46.1% in urban; 45.3% in rural areas)
• 10% a computer (24.6% in urban; 6.5% in rural areas)
• 5% the internet (16.1% in urban; 3.1% in rural areas)
• Men are more likely to listen to the radio than women, but on average 46% of people never listen to the radio. For 79% of these people, it is because they don’t have a radio.
• For those who do listen to the radio, 62% like news programmes best, followed by 27% preferring music shows. Only 1% said they liked drama programmes the most.
• Of the 12% of people who use the internet (23% urban; 10% rural), 88% access it on their mobile phone, and 92% use it for social media.
• 38% of people’s mobile phone is a smart phone (55% in urban areas, 36% in rural areas)
• Overall, radio was regarded as the most trustworthy media, and 38% said that radio was their preferred medium for obtaining news and information. This was different in rural areas, where 41% quoted radio, and 22% said TV, to urban areas, where 22% said radio and 39% said TV.
• The most important topic people wanted to hear/read about was news about Nepal (54%)