Overseas Territories: 5 Key Statistics on Media Usage
Media consumption in French Overseas Territories refers to the overall habits, daily viewing and listening times, and routines of populations in overseas territories when watching television or tuning into the radio. Analyzed by Médiamétrie, this consumption is characterized by strong collective behaviors and deep daily engagement, shaped by the unique culture and lifestyle of each territory.
Discover the five key metrics that highlight this uniqueness compared to Mainland France.
1. Larger Households Driving Co-Viewing and Co-Listening
An analysis of family family A family is composed of a couple (married or unmarried) and, as the case may be, their children; or a person with no spouse and his/her children (single parent family). This idea should not be confused with a household: a household may comprise no family, or one or more families. Find out more structures reveals significantly larger average average The average is one of the most important statistical indicators for a set of numbers. By default, it is the arithmetic mean, calculated by adding the values in the set and then dividing that sum by the number of values. Find out more household household In the statistical sense of the term, a household refers to all occupants of the same dwelling, whether they are related or not. A household may be composed of a single person. Household populations therefore effectively exclude some communities (workers' hostels, retirement homes, university residences, prisons, etc.), the homeless, seamen and people living in mobile homes. Find out more sizes in overseas territories compared to Mainland France. In Mayotte, a household averages 4.9 people, compared to just 1.9 in Mainland France. This trend toward larger families is also clear in French Guiana and New Caledonia, where households average nearly 4 people.
This expanded family structure naturally fosters co-viewing (watching TV together) and co-listening (listening to radio together). Television and radio are not just individual media devices; they serve as true gathering points for the household.
2. A morning routine marked by early radio listening
Radio listening habits reflect the early morning pace of life in the Caribbean territories. In Martinique, 36% of the population population The universe of a survey composed of basic statistical units. These units may be physical persons, households, companies, municipalities, etc. The population serves as a sampling frame for selecting a sample, and as a basis for calculation of the extrapolations from the sample. Find out more listens to the radio at 7:00 AM every weekday morning. This audience audience The set of listeners, viewers, or TV viewers in which each individual is equally weighted, regardless of their listening/viewing duration or frequency of contact. Find out more peak is also seen in Guadeloupe, reaching 32.2% of the population at the exact same time.
By comparison, this morning gathering happens much later and is less pronounced in Mainland France, where the peak radio audience occurs at 8:00 AM and attracts 21.2% of the population.
3. The evening newscast: a unifying event starting at 7:00 p.m.
Evening news broadcasts remain a powerful daily tradition in overseas territories. Nearly one out of two West Indians (48%) watches the evening news.
This audience peak takes place precisely at 7:00 PM, when the TV screen becomes a major focal point for overseas viewers. In Mainland France, prime viewing times occur later in the evening, peaking at 9:15 PM.
4. Record daily TV and Radio consumption time
Viewers in Guadeloupe and Martinique spend a record amount of time in front of their screens, averaging 4 hours and 16 minutes per day. This is 37 minutes more than the average average The average is one of the most important statistical indicators for a set of numbers. By default, it is the arithmetic mean, calculated by adding the values in the set and then dividing that sum by the number of values. Find out more daily viewing time observed in Mainland France.
This high engagement extends to radio as well, with Caribbean listeners spending over 4 hours per day tuned in. Radio's strong reach reach Reach is the term used to describe the reach achieved by a medium, publication, advertisement or campaign. It corresponds to the number of users reached and is therefore quantitative data. Reach plays a key role in measuring return on investment. It is used to determine whether or not the communication is effective. Whether for a website or a social network, reach corresponds to the proportion of the Internet user population or the audience reached by the site or network over a set period. Find out more is confirmed across all analyzed territories:
- In Réunion, radio reaches 67% of 25–49-year-olds every day.
- In New Caledonia, it reaches 76.4% of upper-income and professional demographics (CSP+) daily.
5. Television: An essential pillar of daily social life
Beyond specific shows, television remains an essential pillar of social life in French Overseas Territories. Each month, 85.8% of overseas residents watch television, representing a total reach of 1.7 million viewers.
Daily reach remains exceptionally strong, with nearly 66% of the total population total population This refers to household populations as well as some communities (workers' hostels, retirement homes, university residences, prisons, etc.), the homeless, seamen and people living in mobile homes. Find out more watching TV every single day.