A study commissioned by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) shows that using Yle’s online news does not decrease the consumption of commercial media’s online news in Finland. On the contrary, the study shows a positive link between the use of Yle’s and commercial media’s news.
According to the study, people who use Yle’s online news are at least as likely, and often more likely, to use commercial news services as well. This connection remained strong even after taking into account demographic factors such as age, gender and income, as well as news consumption preferences.
This is the first time this topic has been studied using diverse data focused exclusively on the Finnish media market. The study is based on online traffic data from Yle, Helsingin Sanomat, Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti (FIAM), as well as the Digital News Report survey (Reuters Institute).
The study ”Economic study on the impact of publicly funded PSM activities on the largest commercial online news publishers in Finland” (Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates, 2026), analysed whether Yle’s activities weaken the reach, revenue or willingness to invest of commercial media.
”The study shows that the coexistence of public service and commercial media supports a dynamic and competitive media market in Finland. It is excellent that, for the first time, this topic has been studied using a diverse dataset focused specifically on Finland,” says Yle CEO Marit af Björkesten.
Survey results showed that unwillingness to pay for news and a general lack of interest in news have a much greater impact on the use of commercial news services than whether a person uses Yle’s services.
Analysis of online traffic data in the study found that increased use of Yle’s news services (reach, page views and visits) is linked to increased use of news services by commercial operators.
The material used for the study included online traffic data and a survey. The online traffic data from Yle, Helsingin Sanomat, Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti included weekly information on news service usage, such as weekly reach, page views and visits (126 weeks in 2022–2025, Finnish Internet Audience Measurement, FIAM). The survey of 2,015 people examined the relationship between the use of Yle and commercial services at the individual level (Reuters Digital News Report 2025, Reuters Institute). The study was commissioned by the EBU, the umbrella organisation for European public service broadcasters, of which Yle is a member. The study was carried out by the independent economic analysis company Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates and was peer-reviewed by researcher Vardges Levonyan (University of Zurich), who specializes in media economics.