The history of the new media in Switzerland is young. The phenomenon that has started the new media market is of course the emergence of the Internet. The web will be this section‟s main object of analysis.
In section 2.2 it was noticed that use of Internet has risen extremely quick in the last fifteen years. It should be noted as well that the use is now more at home than at work:
Use of the Internet depending on location, evolution from 2001 to 2010
Percentage of the regular users, 14 years and up
(27)
From 2002 to 2008, almost the same percentage of people use Internet at work. The evolution was very slow. On the other hand more and more people surf the web at home which indicates that they are better equipped technologically than before. Another proof that new media is quickly changing in Switzerland is that more and more people have high-speed Internet connections:
High-speed Internet in Switzerland, evolution 1999 to 2009
Sum of subscribers per 100 inhabitants
(28)
It has become very common to possess a high-speed connection nowadays. More than one third of the Swiss citizens have one. Having access to the web is not sufficient anymore, people want to have access and speed as well.
A further evolution of the new media was the apparition of the Web 2.0. That has clearly changed the dynamics of the market. Its principal characteristics are the abundance of user generated contents. Users of new media are rather active than passive and the Web 2.0 is formidable tool to allow users to be active.
There is an additional development in the new media market: all the new electronic devices available in 2010. Smart phones, mobile phones or electronic tablets have all other functions but they can access the Internet and be used as media platforms. In Switzerland a large part of the population owns at least one mobile device which can be used to access the web. Consequently the offer of contents is now much larger than ten years ago. A lot of Internet web sites have now a mobile version that is lighter so the consumers can access it with their mobile phones without problems.
The new media market is now a major player in the Swiss media landscape. In contrast to newspapers it is constantly growing. The role of Internet has changed as well, many people now trusting it more than other media:
(29)
Internet is now very close to newspapers in the domain of information searching. Even more impressive is the fact that those leaders would rather go on the Internet in order to find in-depth analysis on particular news themes. That is a clear sign that there is a drastic evolution in the way new media is consumed and that now new media has evolved into one of the most important players in the Swiss media landscape.
27 http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/themen/16/03/key/ind16.indicator.30106.160204.html?open=1,4,311,302#302
28 http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/themen/16/03/key/ind16.indicator.30107.160204.html?open=1#1
29 MA Leader 2005 / 2007
Page suivante : 4. Competitive differences between newspapers and new media