Television main source of information, Koha Ditore favourite Kosovo daily - poll

Text of report by Kosovo Albanian Kosovapress news agency website

Prishtina [Pristina], 9 December: According to a survey carried out by Index Kosova, television remains the main source of information for Kosova [Kosovo] citizens, and TV21, Radio Dukagjini, and Koha Ditore are the preferred media. The most trusted ones are RTK [Kosovo Radio Television], Radio Kosova and Koha Ditore.

Index Kosova, in partnership with BBSS Gallup International, carried out its 12th media survey in Kosova in November.

The survey was carried out between 22 and 28 November. It included Albanian and minority (without Serbs) respondents in Kosova. The selected sample was representative of the Kosova population over the age of 15.

The main source of information for Kosova citizens, according to this survey, is undoubtedly television, with 85 per cent of the respondents' votes, followed by radio with 7 per cent and newspapers with 6 per cent of the votes, as secondary sources of information. The preferred media for citizens continues to be TV21, with 88 per cent of the respondents' votes, the public television channel RTK, with 82 per cent, and the KTV [Koha Television], with 75 per cent.

Even though the respondents' preferences in television channels place them very close to each other, the actual viewing rates of national channels at the time the survey was carried out showed more striking differences. Thus, in the last week of November, 42 per cent of the respondents watched TV21, 37 per cent watched RTK, and 22 per cent watched KTV. In this respect, TV21 has suffered a slight drop in viewing rates, while the RTK and the KTV have had a rise of 8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

RTK remains the most trusted television channel in Kosova (48 per cent), followed by the TV21 (32 per cent), and the KTV (11 per cent).

Radio Dukagjini is the preferred radio station in Kosova, favoured by 46 per cent of respondents, followed by Radio Kosova (32 per cent) and Radio 21 (11 per cent). The last two have suffered a small drop in ratings compared to the August survey.

The survey shows that Radio Kosova is the most trusted radio station, with 21 per cent of the votes, followed by Radio Dukagjini with 16 per cent, and Radio 21 in third place with 6 per cent of the votes.

The Index Kosova survey shows that the ratings of Radio Kosova and Radio Dukagjini have remained unchanged since the last survey, whereas trust in Radio 21 has fallen steadily.

On the other hand, Koha Ditore remains the preferred daily newspaper in Kosova, favoured by 38 per cent of respondents, leaving behind Bota Sot, with 19 per cent of the votes, Zeri Ditor with 11 per cent, Epoka e Re with 8 per cent, Kosova Sot with 8 per cent, Lajm with 8 per cent, and Express with 4 per cent of the votes.

As far as trust in daily newspapers is concerned, according to this survey, 29 per cent of readers trust Koha Ditore, 15 per cent Bota Sot, 6 per cent Zeri Ditor, and 6 per cent trust Epoka e Re.

Source: Kosovapress news agency website, Pristina, in Albanian 9 Dec 05