Measuring the Size of IRIB's Internet Audience and Its Related Capacities (A case study of Bandar Abba's Residents)

The present article aims to study citizens’ (Bandar Abbas citizens in this case) approach towards National Media’s (IRIB) various websites, and examine the possible mechanisms for expanding IRIB’s presence in the virtual space, hence, depicting a picture regarding the size of IRIB Internet audience and proposing possible ways to boost the media’s presence in this space. This study was carried out through a survey and the Delphi Method and findings indicate that on average, 40% of Bandar Abbas citizens are Internet users and from this, around 87% are users of National Media’s websites. The most frequent uses were made for searching news and information in the Internet. Making programs richer, employing new technologies and facilitating the Internet access were among the proposals put forward by experts interviewed in the Delphi method.