Telegram is one of the most popular platforms for getting news, especially outside the U.S. But here’s the thing: no one has ever measured when people actually read that news-day or night-and how it changes by age. You’ll find tons of stats on how many people use Telegram for news, who they are, and what channels they follow. But when they open the app? That’s a black box.
Let’s cut through the noise. We know 85% of Telegram users follow at least one news channel. We know the biggest group is 25-34 year-olds, making up nearly a third of all users. We know men dominate the platform at nearly 60%. But none of that tells you if a 20-year-old in Manila scrolls news at 2 a.m. after finishing their shift, or if a 40-year-old in Berlin checks updates during their morning coffee break.
Who Uses Telegram for News-and Where?
Telegram’s news audience isn’t random. It’s shaped by who’s already comfortable with tech and values privacy and speed. The biggest chunk of users-29.4% to 31%-are between 25 and 34. Right after them, 21.3% to 23.8% are 35 to 44. Teens and young adults (18-24) make up about 19% to 22.5%. That means the core news readers aren’t teenagers scrolling TikTok. They’re working adults with phones in hand during downtime.
Geographically, Telegram’s strongest markets are in Asia (38%), Europe (27%), and Latin America (21%). India alone has over 86 million monthly users. These regions have different daily rhythms. In places where work starts early and ends late, like parts of Southeast Asia, nighttime might be the only quiet time to catch up on news. In Europe, where lunch breaks are longer and workdays more structured, midday scrolling could be the norm.
And yet, despite all this, no study tracks time-of-day usage. Not Pew Research. Not Statista. Not even Telegram’s own internal data leaks. The closest we get is knowing that 75% of users say they use Telegram primarily for news. But “primarily” doesn’t tell us “when.”
Why Time of Day Might Matter (Even Without Data)
Let’s think like a user. What’s your day like?
For a 20-year-old student working part-time and studying at night? Their phone is probably the first thing they reach for after dinner. They’re not waiting for the morning paper. They’re catching up while their roommates are asleep. Telegram’s push notifications make this easy-news drops in real time, and they can skim headlines between study sessions.
Now picture a 38-year-old project manager in Berlin. Their day is packed: commute, meetings, emails, kids’ soccer practice. They don’t have time to sit down and read. But they do have 90 seconds between Zoom calls. That’s when they tap Telegram. They’re not browsing. They’re hunting for updates on politics, market shifts, or local events. That’s daytime consumption-quick, purposeful, interrupt-driven.
And then there’s the 45-year-old small business owner in Mexico City. They wake up at 5 a.m. to prep for the day. They check Telegram before the coffee’s even brewed. They follow channels about inflation, fuel prices, and supply chain delays. This isn’t entertainment. It’s survival. For them, morning is news time.
These aren’t guesses. These are real behaviors seen across forums, user interviews, and app usage patterns on similar platforms. We just don’t have a big study that says “25-34 year-olds peak at 11 p.m.” But we can map the logic.
How Telegram’s Design Shapes When You Read
Telegram isn’t built for endless scrolling like Instagram. It’s built for delivery. Channels push updates. Bots alert you. You get a notification, you tap, you read, you move on. Average monthly usage? Just 3 hours and 45 minutes. Compare that to WhatsApp’s 17 hours. That tells you something: Telegram users aren’t wasting time. They’re using it like a tool.
That tool works best when you need it. If you’re a nurse on night shift, you’ll check news during your 2 a.m. break. If you’re a freelancer with flexible hours, you might read during lunch. If you’re a college student cramming for exams, you’ll scroll at 1 a.m. because that’s when your brain is still awake.
And here’s the kicker: Telegram works the same on phone, desktop, and web. So someone might start reading on their phone during a bus ride, finish on their laptop at home, and check updates again on their tablet before bed. Time-of-day habits aren’t linear-they’re layered.
What We Can Infer About Age and Timing
Even without hard data, patterns emerge from how different age groups live.
- 18-24: More likely to read late at night. School, part-time jobs, social life, and late-night routines mean their quiet time is after midnight. They’re also more likely to follow niche or meme-based news channels that blend entertainment with information.
- 25-34: This is the busiest group. They’re juggling careers, relationships, maybe kids. Their news reading happens in fragments: during commutes, lunch breaks, or right before bed. They’re the most likely to use Telegram’s saved messages and folder features to organize news.
- 35-44: More structured routines. They tend to read during morning coffee, before work, or during quiet evenings after kids are asleep. They prefer serious, verified channels. They’re less likely to follow viral content and more likely to share news with colleagues or family.
- 45+: Smaller group on Telegram, but highly active. They often read news in the morning, sometimes using desktop versions. Many use Telegram because it’s simpler than Facebook or Twitter. Their habits are consistent-same time, same channels, every day.
Gender plays a role too. Men make up nearly 60% of users. Studies on other platforms show men are more likely to consume news during work hours, while women tend to read in the evening. That might mean daytime Telegram news use skews male, while nighttime use has a more balanced mix.
Why This Gap Exists-and Why It Matters
Why don’t we have this data? Because most analytics tools track clicks, not context. They know you opened a channel. They don’t know if it was 7 a.m. or 11 p.m. They track how many people follow a channel. They don’t track when they read it.
But this gap matters. News organizations trying to reach people on Telegram need to know when to post. A channel posting at 9 a.m. might miss the 20-year-old who’s asleep. A post at midnight might get buried under memes for the 35-year-old who’s already in bed.
For marketers, this is a blind spot. For journalists, it’s a missed opportunity. For users, it’s just noise. If you’re running a news channel and posting at 3 p.m. every day, you might be shouting into the void for half your audience.
What You Can Do Right Now
You don’t need a big study to figure this out. You can test it yourself.
- Follow 5 news channels you care about.
- For one week, note the time you open each post.
- Ask 3 friends in different age groups to do the same.
- Look for patterns: Do younger friends read after midnight? Do older friends check in the morning?
That’s real data. Better than any report that says “users are active.”
Or, if you run a Telegram news channel: try posting at three different times-7 a.m., 1 p.m., and 9 p.m.-for a week. Watch your view counts. See when your audience actually engages. You’ll learn more in 7 days than any analyst could tell you in a year.
Telegram’s power isn’t in its encryption or bots. It’s in how it fits into real lives. And real lives don’t run on 9-to-5 schedules. They run on sleep cycles, work shifts, family routines, and quiet moments between chaos.
So if you want to know when people read Telegram news, don’t wait for a report. Look around. Ask. Test. The answer isn’t in a spreadsheet-it’s in your phone notifications.
What’s Next for Telegram News?
Telegram is growing fast. With over 1 billion monthly users and 10 million active bots, it’s becoming a news ecosystem. Premium subscribers (10-12 million as of late 2024) are paying for ad-free feeds and faster downloads-meaning they expect better, more timely content.
But unless someone starts tracking time-based behavior, channels will keep guessing. And users will keep missing news they care about.
The next big innovation on Telegram won’t be a new feature. It’ll be smarter scheduling-by users, for users. Imagine a feature that learns when you read news and auto-sorts channels by your habits. Or a notification setting that says, “You usually check news at 8 p.m. - here’s what’s new.”
That’s the future. And it starts with asking the right question: When do you read?
