Posted on 04/03/2006 10:28:31 AM PDT by SmithL
Chicago -- Newspapers' online audiences are growing rapidly, according to a new industry study, highlighting a key growth area that newspapers are seeking to exploit as print circulation continues to be challenged.
A study being released Monday by the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group, found that one in three Internet users — 55 million — visit a newspaper Web site every month.
Also, unique visitors to newspaper Web sites jumped 21 percent from January 2005 to December 2005, while the number of page views soared by 43 percent over the same period.
The study coincides with the NAA's annual convention in Chicago. Top of mind for the publishers attending was the looming sale of 12 Knight Ridder Inc. newspapers by The McClatchy Co., which is acquiring the storied publishing company in a $4.5 billion deal that will reshape the landscape of American newspapers.
Strategies for coping with the rapid transformation of consumers' news consumption habits due to the Internet was also a big topic at the three-day conference, which began Sunday.
Andrew Swinand, executive vice president at Starcom Worldwide, a major advertising-buying agency, said during a panel discussion that newspapers could do more to harness their presence online, such as getting more participation from audiences.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Save a tree -- kill a beaver, or go online!!!
Never miss a day here viewing the WSJ online -- but I get hard copy too for other readers. The ONLY newspaper I have touched for well over a decade...the MSM has seen to that.
I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. I never read actual newspapers any more but I read all sorts of papers online. I guess sooner or later I'll have to pay.
I read the NYT online, but only because it's free. I would never help subsidize their political advocacy.
like Times Select?
doomed......
OTOH..elimnating the print edition eraes all the costs for newsprint ink, plants, labor, delivery, etc....the WSJ website is fre now to subscribrs to the print edition..also..I'd estimate that 95% of the financial tables in the print edition are NEVER read ..they're accessed online in various forums. Ultimately, I think the WSJ will evolve to a 99% on-line read...with a tabloid version..articles and editorials only..for sale in airports, newstads, and complimentary in hotels..Their revenue will drop by 90%, but so will their costs..
My local paper, the Columbus Dispatch tried to charge for online access and found that it didn't work because there wasn't enough traffic to their website to satisfy their online advertisers. So the Dispatch went back to being a free site.
Yeah, after being given a link to biased or stupid reporting from one of the FR threads. HA!
I would buy the print version of my local newspaper simply for the coupons if I didn't hate them (St Petersberg Times) so much.
Their frontpage headline the Sunday before last was all about how we are not paying enough property taxes. I swore I would NEVER buy them again almost a year ago (over a relentless barrage of how wonderful and misunderstood Michael Schiavo was), and I have stuck to that.
You would think they would realize how many readers they could pick up if they stopped alienating people over strident agendas.
Individual papers will have a very difficult time charging for access. Just wait until a whole bunch of papers start charging at the same time.
"Expect new charges for news access in the near-term future."
It's an interesting model. If our local paper begins to charge for access to their site, then they need to be better than the are, or I'll go elsewhere.
I think that the model that would work is for those that get the paper, give free online access. Those that don't, charge for site access.
I wish online papers would provide links to pdf versions of their print adds.
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