Study shows what Uzbekistan readers expect from the media: more investigations and open discussions

On November 2 in Tashkent, the official presentation of the first stage of the project 'National Study of Media Consumption in Uzbekistan' took place. This project was implemented with the participation of the Public Foundation for Support and Development of National Mass Media, the European Union Delegation to Uzbekistan, the Center for Content Preparation for Mass Media under the Presidential Administration, and the Republican Center for Public Opinion Research 'Ijtimoiy Fikr.'

The survey ran from September 8 to 19 and was conducted in the format of personal interviews at people's places of residence. A total of 1411 people from 14 regions of the country participated, all aged 18 or older.

The Director of the Mass Media Foundation, Zhakhongir Azimov, emphasized that the research results provide a general picture of the republic's media space, covering television, radio, print, and online media. He noted that analyzing indicators by age, gender, place of residence, and media consumption habits requires close attention, and expressed hope that the collected data will be an important step toward understanding public media habits, although he acknowledged the need for more detailed studies in each area.

The main conclusion of the monitoring is that the audience is not a passive group simply receiving information; on the contrary, it actively participates in media processes, independently chooses sources, compares the information received, and determines the topics that interest them.

The study demonstrated that both youth and the older generation show high interest in news and socio-political agendas. 50.4% of the population follows news about events in Uzbekistan, and another 30.4% is interested in them periodically. Furthermore, respondents do not limit themselves to a single source of information.

Telegram has become one of the key channels for receiving news, followed by television and social networks. However, in terms of trust, television leads, trusted by 44.3% of respondents. Telegram is trusted by 11.3%, and news websites by 7.4%. Among television channels, O’zbekiston 24 commands the highest trust.

Radio, printed newspapers, and official government websites showed significantly lower levels of trust.

An important finding was the absence of differences in information preferences between residents of the capital, regional centers, and rural areas. In some regions, interest in news was even higher than in Tashkent. Additionally, rural residents are more likely than urban residents to express doubts about the reliability of materials published by online publications.

People are concerned not only about world and domestic events but also about issues related to their daily lives, such as income levels, employment, social support, prices, health, and child-rearing.

The main threat identified by the respondents is fake news. In their opinion, false information is most often spread through YouTube, Telegram, and social networks. 70.4% of respondents supported the idea of tightening responsibility for spreading inaccurate information.

Renata Vrabel, Acting Chargé d'Affairs of the European Union Delegation to Uzbekistan, noted that the study's findings can help identify information gaps, strengthen society against disinformation, and improve interaction between citizens, media, and institutions. A series of trainings and events aimed at increasing audience understanding and more effective communication using reliable content are planned following this study.

The results of the first stage of the national study of media consumption in Uzbekistan form a comprehensive view of the country's modern media environment, showing how accounting for audience interests and habits affects the media's ability to adapt, counter disinformation, and maintain professional standards.

The Charitable Foundation for the Support and Development of Mass Communication presented the results of a national survey on media consumption in Uzbekistan. According to the study, residents most often receive news through Telegram channels, while television remains the most trusted source of information. The foundation reported that the survey covered television, radio, print, and online media, social networks, and Telegram.

The survey was conducted from September 8 to 19, 2026. Interviewers personally communicated with respondents at their place of residence. 1,411 people aged 18 and over participated in the study from all 14 regions of the country. Among those surveyed, 53.9% lived in cities, and 46.1% lived in rural areas. The organizers emphasized that the multi-stage sampling ensures the representativeness of the results at the national level.

The study was implemented by the Charitable Foundation for the Support and Development of Mass Communication, the European Union Delegation to Uzbekistan, and the Media Content Training Center under the Presidential Administration. Fieldwork was carried out by the Republican Center for Public Opinion Research 'Ijtimoiy Fikr'.

Overall, 50.4% of respondents reported regularly following national news, and another 30.4% do so periodically. The most frequently used sources of news were Telegram channels (51.6%), television (44.6%), social networks (41.6%), YouTube and video blogs (31.3%), as well as online publications and news websites (30%).

Respondents chose these sources primarily due to the speed of information delivery (48.6%), trust in the source (31.3%), availability anytime and anywhere (31%), convenient format (30.9%), and free access (24.1%).

Events taking place in Uzbekistan generated the most interest (56%), followed by world events (40%), and then local and regional news (22%). Respondents noted that they lack information on prices, incomes, employment, and social support (41.3%), public needs (40.6%), healthcare (23%), and laws, as well as citizens' rights (22%).

Uzbek language remains the preferred language for receiving information. 71.7% of respondents preferred materials in Uzbek using Cyrillic, while 49.8% chose Uzbek in Latin script, and 43.3% chose Russian. The proportion preferring Cyrillic increased with age: among people aged 18–24, this figure was 47%, and among respondents over 55, it was 94.3%.

67.5% of survey participants watch television content, with the elderly being the largest audience. Television is trusted by 44.3% of respondents, which is less than official government websites (17.3%), Telegram channels (11.3%), news websites (7.4%), social networks (6.7%), and YouTube and video blogs (5.4%). Trust in television increases with age: among 18–24 year olds, it is 23.1%, and among those over 55, it is 70.6%.

The most popular TV channels named were Milliy TV (44.5%), O‘zbekiston 24 (41.7%), Zo‘r TV (34.9%), and Sevimli TV (33.8%), followed by Yoshlar (28.6%) and Mening Yurtim (26.1%). Men were more likely to choose sports channels, while women watched Milliy TV and Sevimli TV more often. O‘zbekiston 24 ranked first in terms of trust across all groups by gender, age, and region, being named the most reliable channel by 52.8% of viewers.

On weekdays, most respondents watched television for 30 minutes to two hours daily. On weekends, the average viewing time was usually one to two hours. Most people watched TV at home, although younger audiences more often used smartphones and tablets for viewing.

Main complaints concerned program repeats, excessive advertising, and the quality of domestic films and series. Rural residents demanded more educational programs and coverage of regional life.

Radio was listened to by 21.9% of respondents, while 78.1% stated they do not listen to it. Men listened to the radio more often than women. The largest share of listeners was among people aged 35–44 (26.9%), and the smallest among youth aged 18–24 (16.7%). Radio listening peaked in the morning, before noon, and a significant part of the audience included the evening time, between 18:00 and 21:00.

People mainly listened to the radio at home or in cars. Among men, 49.7% cited the car as the place of listening. The most frequently mentioned station was Vodiy Sadosi, chosen by 38.2% of respondents. Yoshlar and Mahalla were also popular among women and older listeners.

The main reasons for choosing a radio station were its music format (64.4%), current news (42.7%), and favorite songs (38.5%). Among respondents aged 18–24, 74.5% indicated music as the reason for their choice.

28.3% of respondents read newspapers and online publications. Of these readers, 38.8% used only digital versions, 32.6% read only print editions, and 28.6% used both formats. More than half of press readers (55.9%) received publications daily, usually at home and in the evening.

Print publications were mainly purchased at kiosks and stores (42.6%) or by subscription (32%). Online publications were viewed through mobile applications (58%), Telegram channels (37.2%), media sites (31.6%), and social networks (31.2%).

Among print publications, the most popular were Xalq so‘zi (38.9%), Yangi O‘zbekiston (37.7%), and Mahalla (28.7%). Leading online publications were Kun.uz (74.7%), Daryo.uz (43.5%), and Qalampir.uz (36.8%).

Readers primarily chose publications for their objectivity (50.4%) and reliability (50.1%). They expressed a desire to receive more open discussions on social issues (31.8%), objective news (30.1%), analytical coverage (29.1%), journalistic investigations (20.6%), and fact-checking (20.1%).

Social networks were used by 64.8% of respondents. The user share was 84% among youth aged 18–24 and 38.4% among those over 55. The highest level of social network usage was recorded in the Andijan region (88.1%), Khorezm region (82%), and Samarkand region (80.2%). Among social network users, 92.7% used Instagram, followed by Facebook (28.2%) and TikTok (14.2%).

A total of 81.3% of social media users accessed these platforms several times a day, most often in the evening between 21:00 and midnight. On weekends, the share of users spending three hours or more on social networks increased from 8.9% to 21.3%.

The main reasons for using social networks were getting news (62.5%) and communicating with family and friends (57.3%). Users cited the spread of false information (48.7%), fraud (34%), intrusive advertising (31.9%), suspicious links (24.9%), and account hacking attempts (24.2%) as major problems.

Telegram was used by 86.1% of survey participants, including 94.7% of respondents aged 18–24. In total, 85.3% of users opened the messenger several times a day, most often in the evening.

Approximately 55.2% of respondents subscribed to Telegram channels covering Uzbekistan's news, and 27.1% followed channels dedicated to international news. Educational institutions published their channels for 22.4%, and 21.2% subscribed to channels of local authorities and mahallas.

Telegram users reported problems related to unreliable information (35.1%), advertising and spam (31.6%), excessive notifications (26.9%), fraudulent messages (24.4%), and fake online stores (23.2%).

A total of 27.6% of respondents stated that they encountered unreliable information very or quite often. Most often, they associated this with YouTube and video blogs (50.1%), Telegram channels (44%), and social networks (38.4%).

Fake news was identified as the main media problem by 46.6% of respondents, while 33.1% pointed to insufficient objectivity. 77.4% supported stricter penalties for spreading false information, and 75.9% believed that the state should control the accuracy of information.

Overall, 65.3% of respondents are satisfied with the development of media in Uzbekistan. Nearly half (49.7%) believed that journalists could freely express their opinions and cover any topic.

To strengthen media independence, 56.5% proposed improving legal guarantees of freedom of speech, 30.7% called for better journalist training, and 27% supported expanding journalists' access to information held by state bodies.

Jakhongir Azimov, Director of the Charitable Foundation for the Support and Development of Mass Communication, noted that this survey, which he called a research study, is unique in its scale. He stated: 'The conducted study is of a research nature and unique in its kind. It provided an overall picture of the country's media environment, covering television, radio, print, and online media. For obtaining deeper and more objective information, more detailed studies in each area separately are necessary, and the Mass Media Foundation is ready to continue this work.'

Renata Vrubel, attaché of the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan, expressed hope that the results obtained will serve as a practical resource for all interested parties and support further cooperation in building a more informed, sustainable, and media-literate society. The second stage of the project will include training sessions for journalists, press service employees, and bloggers in six regions of the country.