• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 8, 2018

Even among millennials, traditional channels still have their place -- and particularly during big news events.

This often scrutinized demographic is “dramatically influenced to tune in to TV during breaking news moments, according to the second installment of Nielsen’s "Millennials on Millennials" report.

Also, despite radio having the lowest monthly reach among millennials -- at 23% -- their time spent with radio actually exceeds digital and TV news among the demographic -- nine hours per month for radio. That's compared with three hours and six hours for digital and TV news, respectively. 

Yet, millennials’ love for digital knows no bounds.

Along this group -- defined by Nielsen as adults ages 21-37 -- digital news reaches 88% of millennials in a month, compared to 80% of adults 38 and older.

Millennials are the most-coveted consumer demographic from a marketer-engagement perspective, yet they are often the most stereotyped.

Across media channels old and new, news reaches 95% of millennials, compared to 99% of those 38 and older.

However, the older demographic spends three times longer engaging with national news in a year than millennials.

When looking at digital news, both younger and older generations actually consume news on mobile devices equally.

Perhaps as a result, mobile is driving digital news consumption, reaching 30% more digital news consumers than desktop, while one-third of millennial news viewers are reached only by digital news.

When looking at digital-first and national TV news on digital consumption, Nielsen found that higher reach doesn’t guarantee lengthy engagement.

The reach of digital-first news among both generations is higher than TV news on digital, yet both groups of consumers spend significantly less time with digital-first news than TV news on digital.