Online news has become more popular than regular print newspapers in the US, according to a new study.

The form has quickly evolved to become the third most popular form overall, just behind local and national television stations, Pew Research said.

News awareness is becoming an anytime, anywhere, any device activity for those who want to stay informed, it said.

The days of loyalty to a particular news organization on a particular piece of technology in a particular form are gone, the report said.

Regular readers of newspapers - either local ones or national papers such as the New York Times - have dropped to 50 percent.

When asked whether they have a favorite online news source, the majority of online news users (65 percent) say they do not.

In fact over 90 percent of American adults get news from multiple platforms on a typical day, with half of those using four to six platforms daily.

Fully 59 percent get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day.