Is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)?

Is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)? E.G. consider for the impact of new and digital media on TV broadcasting the change in audience ratings for programmes as a consequence of the deregulation of TV.  (Prior to deregulation audience figures could be 20m+ for Eastenders etc to a situation today where, due to the massive number of channels now available, audiences are vastly reduced and fragmented).


The audience for new and digital media has changed drastically, with the rise of new technology has steered audiences away from traditional types of media to the new and digital age. With institutions making information and media products only available on the new platform, audiences are forced to use this, for example the digital switch over, approximately 10 years ago the introduction of freeview boxes became available for people who wanted more of a range of channels for free. This made it optional for people who wanted it, meaning that audiences could either pay for satellite TV or continue using their basic 5 channels. However in April 2012 all audiences who own and watch the television will have to change to a freeview box if they only have 5 channels, with the basic five being scrapped and no longer available.
http://www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk/
Because of new technology coming out all the time, the older generation may find it hard to keep up with it all, there have been many worries that OAP's cannot cope with the new digital switch over and that it may be unfair to them, however help is provided to them so that they can keep up to date and learn how to use it. This will increase the amount of people using digital television because it is a permanent fixture and therefore meaning that everyone who wants to watch TV will have to do this in April.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6155518.stm

Also, there has been a dramatic drop in the regulation and audience number in newspapers, over the recent years the rise of new and digital media has caused big problems for newspaper institutions. For example, the Daily Telegraph had a readership of 1,751,000 in 2009, but in 2011 this dropped to 1,584,000, it is a small drop however they are still loosing part of their audience. This is due to the amount of news that appears online, although some newspapers are now available online there is difficulty trying to get and subscriptions that would provide the institutions with revenue. newspapers are doing anything to try and gain revenue and cut down their costs, for example The guardian have re-vamped the format of their newspaper again. Going from a "broadsheet to Berliner size it has undergone another redesign" this was to "save "on the cost of paper, ink and production""
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/22/guardian-changes-design-format