The structure of media consumption in Russia: results of a typological analysis

The article presents the results of representative study of the multimedia behavior of the Russian audience conducted in 2022. The data reflects the characteristics of media consumption at the beginning of the current historical period associated with changes in a number of key constants of social life. The cluster and discriminant analysis procedures help to identify five statistically stable, internally homogeneous and different typological groups (clusters) in the audience structure. The basis for cluster differentiation employed various media ‘repertoires’ of the audience: sets and durations of media use, and their components – TV channels, radio stations, social networks, video aggregators, online publications, and other sources. Among the socio-demographic characteristics, the most significant differentiating feature of clusters is age. According to the results, in the total time of media use, about 60% was spent on online media (social networks, video content aggregators and other Internet resources), the rest was spent on traditional media (primarily television). The results of the typological analysis allow to assess the distribution of contact time in audience clusters with news and socio-political content reflecting the official Russian information agenda. The news sources of most cluster groups are differed from one another and have low overlapping. In the context of increasing tensions in the international relations and the growing information confrontation, this leads to the complication of media agenda.

1. Andreenkov V.G., Tolstova Yu.N., eds. (1982). Typology and classification in sociological research. Moscow: Nauka (in Rus.).

2. Bryant J., Thompson S. (2004). Fundamentals of media impact. Moscow: Williams (in Rus.).

3. Chernykh A. (2007). The world of modern media. M.: Publishing house “Territory of the Future”.

4. Dugin E. Ya. (2021). Media industry in the context of digital transformations. Moscow: Canon+ (in Rus.).

5. Ferguson D., Perse E. (2000). The world wide web as a functional alternative to television. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. Vol. 44. No. 2. P. 155-174.

6. Firsov B. M. (1981). Mass communication in the context of the scientific and technological revolution. L.: Nauka (in Rus.).

7. Grushina B.A., Onikova L.A., eds. (1980). Mass information in a modern industrial city: Experience of a comprehensive sociological study. Moscow: Politizdat (in Rus.).

8. Heikkila R., Leguina A., Purhonen S. (2022). The stratification of media usage in Finland, 2007–2018: Signs of socio-political polarization? New Media & Society. Vol. 24. No. 5. P. 1053-1075. DOI: 10.1177/1461444820971612.

9. Ionin L.G. (2010). Update of conservatism. Moscow: Publishing house of the Higher School of Economics (in Rus.).

10. Kirillina N.V. (2022). Fragmentation of the media audience: from the global village to the global theater. Communicology. Vol. 10. No. 2. P. 170-179. DOI: 10.21453/2311-3065-2022-10-2-170-179 (in Rus.).

11. Kovalev P.A. (2007). Russian television audience. M.: Publishing House of the National Institute of Business (in Rus.).

12. Latov Yu.V. (2023). Dynamics of the mass consciousness of Russians: an extraordinary situation or the beginning of a new cycle? Polis. Political studies. No. 6. P. 161-179 (in Rus.).

13. Linsen Sua, Shih-Chih Chen. (2020). Exploring the Typology and Impacts of Audience Gratifications Gained from TV–Smartphone Multitasking. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction. Vol. 36. No. 8. P. 725-735.

14. McQuail D. (1989). Mass Communication Theory. An Introduction. Second Edition. London: Sage.

15. Nazarov M.M., Yurkin D.N. (2024). Multimedia consumption of the Russian audience: research experience in 2021-2022. Russia reforming. No. 22. P. 375-404. DOI: 10.19181/ezheg.2024.15 (in Rus.).

16. Poluekhtova I.A. (2023). Television and its audience in the age of the Internet. M.: Publishing house of the Moscow Humanitarian University (in Rus.).

17. Poluekhtova I.A., ed. (2012). Television through the eyes of viewers. M.: Analytical center Video International (in Rus.).

18. Reveilhac М., Morselli D. (2020). Digital Shift in Swiss Media Consumption Practices. Swiss Journal of Sociology. Vol. 46. No. 3. P. 535-558.

19. Sharkov F.I., Silkin V.V., Kireeva O.F. (2025). Sociology of the new media environment in the western post-truth society. RUDN Journal of Sociology. Vol. 25. No. 2. P. 473-481. DOI: 10.22363/23132272-2025-25-2-473-481.

20. Shestopal E. B., Rogach N. N. (2023). Stages of transformation of the psychological state of Russian society: political and psychological analysis. Politex. No. 2. P. 150-165 (in Rus.).

21. Tatarova G.G. (1984). Fundamentals of typological analysis in sociological research. M.: New textbook (in Rus.).

22. Tatarova G.G., Kuchenkova A.V. (2022). The demand for a “typological turn” in empirical sociology. Sociological Studies. № 7. P.28-40 (in Rus.).

23. Vartanova E.L. (2023). Representation of conflict in the context of new subjectivity of the media environment // Social communication in modern Russian society: collection of reports of the AllRussian scientific and practical conference (Moscow, October 20, 2022) / Eds. V.A. Mansurov, T.Z. Adamyants. Moscow: ROS; FNISC RAS (in Rus.).

24. Vartanova E.L. (2025). Communication technologies in the context of social development: distortions or connectedness?. Medi@lmanakh. No. 1 (126). P. 8-17 (in Rus.).

25. Yadov V. A. (2007). Strategy of sociological research. Description, explanation, understanding of social reality. Moscow: Omega-L (in Rus.).