For the love of internet: Malta registers second highest usage of TV streaming & online games across EU

Taking a look at EU residents internet habits prior to COVID-19, Eurostat found that Malta, together with Finland, registered the second-highest cohort of TV or video streamers aged between 16 and 74 in the first three months of 2020.

Observing habits before COVID gravely impacted Europe and before the continent’s residents had no choice but to turn to the internet for entertainment as swaths of sectors and businesses were forced shut, the Netherlands and Cyprus recorded the largest shares of people who streamed TV or videos, at 95 per cent.

Malta, together with Finland, came in at second place at 93 per cent, while the lowest shares were observed in Romania, at 37 per cent, and Bulgaria, at 44 per cent.

The use of TV streaming by Malta’s residents will come as no surprise. People have long complained about the limited availability of foreign programmes on local TV stations. Indeed, it is no secret that many have turned to off-market satellite subscriptions and streaming services such as Netflix.

Turning to online games, it was found that The Netherlands also had the highest share of individuals playing or downloading games, at 56 per cent. Here, Malta also came in at second place, together with Denmark, with a share of 47 per cent each.