Brits top news moments of 2022 revealed

Britain's favourite news moments of 2022 include the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Lionesses winning the Euros and the Will Smith and Chris Rock slap.

The study of 2,000 adults revealed that 20 percent of people were hooked on reading about the constant succession of Prime Ministers, whilst 17 per cent were shocked the UK came second in the Eurovision song contest and 11 percent couldn’t believe Matt Hancock entered the ‘I’m a Celebrity’ jungle.

Other top moments this year include Liz Truss outlasted by a lettuce (20 percent), David Beckham queueing to see the Queen’s coffin (17 percent) and the dog that turned itself into a police station after being spooked by fireworks (14 percent).

The research, commissioned by digital magazine and newspaper app Readly, found that 71 percent of adults think 2022 has been a particularly memorable year in terms of news.

How well read are you with this year’s world of news from sports, politics, entertainment, celebrities and tech? Take this quiz to find out how much attention you were paying in 2022.

Chris Couchman, Head of Content at Readly said: "2022 has certainly been a year of ups and downs with war, covid recovery and strikes. We have mourned some of the nation's most popular characters whilst winning one of the World’s top tournaments.

The concern around COVID-19 has been taken over by the cost-of-living crisis. If we were told we’d see three Prime Ministers this year and also our monarch's reign would come to an end, you wouldn’t believe it, but it seems no news is surprising these days.”

News junkies

In a typical month this year, 11 percent of respondents have had 10 or more conversations about memorable events with friends, family and colleagues.

Just over seven in 10 (71 percent) consider themselves in the loop with current news events. With news broadcasts on TV (46 per cent), newspapers (34 percent) and the radio the most common ways of getting this kind of information.

Nowadays though, Brits also like to get their news in other forms, with 42 per cent saying they are listening to podcasts and 14 per cent are getting it through digital magazines. The Trojan Horse Affair (16 per cent), BBC Good Food with Tom Kerridge (14 per cent) and Desert Island Dishes (12 per cent) were among the most popular podcasts respondents listen to.              

Topics we don’t want to read anymore about

The OnePoll study for Readly also found that Love Island (38 percent), Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (36 percent) and I’m a Celebrity (34 percent) are the topics adults don’t want to hear anymore about.  Followed by YouTube personalities (32 percent), Cristiano Ronaldo (31 percent) and Cryptocurrencies (29 percent).

Sad passings of 2022

2022 has also been a year of shocking deaths and we have lost some of the nation’s favourite people. The Queen came out on top as the most shocking death of the year (37 percent), with Dame Olivia Newton John (20 percent) and Robbie Coltrane (19 percent) close behind.

Of the last 10 years, 2022 and 2020 were voted the most memorable for news events by 12 percent of respondents.

The research also found that sports (31 percent), politics (31 percent) and entertainment (29 percent) are the topics people prefer to read most about.                

74 percent of people said they can’t quite believe some of the stories that are reported in the media and a further 25 percent often find themselves ‘doomscrolling’ their social channels.

When looking at the year ahead, 27 percent believe there will be more positive news in 2023 than this year.

Readly, the all you can read subscription service with 6300 digital magazines and newspapers saw 286,000 digital issues being read 146 million times on the platform in 2022.     

Chris Couchman added: “Some of the news this year has been difficult to take in, but this has been coupled with happy, heartwarming events that have united the nation and we have seen much appetite for across our portfolio of digital magazines and newspapers.

Our data insights shows that reading has spiked globally in categories such as news & politics, craft & DIY and TV, film & cinema this year. Whilst celebrity,  motoring and lifestyle were the top read categories in the UK, weddings, travel and crafting hobbies also saw an increase.

It will be interesting to see what 2023 brings, let’s hope it’s less doom and gloom and more upbeat, positive news that we can all look forward to.”

TOP 30 FAVOURITE NEWS STORIES OF 2022:

1. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
2. Lionesses winning the Euros
3. Having three Prime Ministers in one year
4. Liz Truss getting outlasted by a lettuce
5. Ukraine win Eurovision – with the UK coming second
6. David Beckham queueing to see the Queen’s coffin
7. The football World Cup taking place in Qatar
8. The dog that turned itself into a police station after getting spooked by fireworks
9. Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill becoming the popular song in the world
10. The Will Smith & Chris Rock slap
11. NASA successfully crashes a spaceship into an asteroid
12. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation case
13. Matt Hancock going into ‘I’m a Celebrity’
14. David Tennant becomes the ‘new’ Doctor Who
15. Elon Musk buying Twitter
16. Liverpool being announced as the host of the 2023 Eurovision song contest
17. The Wagatha Christie trial – Rebecca Vardy vs Coleen Rooney
18. Return of Glastonbury – headlined by Paul McCartney
19. Neighbours ends – and is then brought back by Amazon
20. The release of Top Gun: Maverick
21. Holly and Phil queue jump
22. Nigels from across the world gather at a Worcestershire pub after the name became officially extinct
23. The new series of Stranger Things
24. Ronaldo’s interview with Piers Morgan
25. Kanye getting dropped by Balenciaga and Adidas
26. Joe Lycett appears to shred £10K cash in row over David Beckham’s Qatar deal
27. The ABBA Voyage virtual concert residency
28. Just Stop Oil activists throw soup at Van Gogh painting
29. The sign for Cock Bridge, a village in Scotland, being stolen so many times ‘tamper proof’ ones were erected
30. The rise of TikTok

Visit www.readly.com for more information.

-ENDS

For more details contact: kate.tegelaars@readly.com or 07879 818 711

Research: The survey was carried out during the period from 29 November - 5 December 2022 via the Internet, on the basis of the OnePoll Panel, based on a sample of 2000 UK adults.

About Readly
Readly is the European category leader for digital magazines. The company offers a digital subscription service that lets customers have unlimited access to 7,500 magazines and newspapers including the catalogue of ePresse. Readly has subscribers in more than 50 countries and content available in 17 different languages. In collaboration with 1200 publishers worldwide, Readly is digitising the magazine and newspaper industry. In 2021, revenues amounted to SEK 466 million. Since September 2020, the Readly share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Midcap. For more information, please visit https://corporate.readly.com/