Newspaper Web Sites Expand Reach of Total Newspaper Audience, According to Latest Newspaper Audience Database

VIENNA, Va., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Significant growth in newspaper Web usage is continuing to redefine the traditional newspaper audience, according to results released today by the Newspaper Association of America in its fall 2006 Newspaper Audience Database (NAdbase) report. The report shows that during the first half of 2006, unique visitors to newspaper Web sites averaged more than 55.5 million visitors a month or one in three of all Internet users, a 31 percent increase over the same period a year ago (42.4 million)(Nielsen//NetRatings). Newspaper Web sites have also helped drive a 15 percent increase in total newspaper audience for 25- to 34-year-olds and 10 percent increase for 18- to 24-year-olds (Scarborough).

NAA today also launched a new interactive tool built by Scarborough Research designed to allow advertisers to generate their own reports on national and local newspaper print and online audience data, comparing selected markets or newspapers across a range of demographic segments. The new tool is available on a new NAA advertiser site, http://www.newspaperaudience.com/

"Audience is the most comparable measure of the value of newspapers, and it is critical to provide advertisers with that information across the full portfolio of print and digital products," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. "This latest NAdbase report shows that publishers' investments and innovations in digital platforms and other new products are paying off through audience growth, bringing in younger readers and attracting more than one third of all Internet users," Sturm said.

"Focusing on advertisers' needs for measurement data that reflects newspapers' full reach and audience, we have increased the functionality of the NAdbase with online tools that contains the freshest audience data available from Scarborough Research and Nielsen//NetRatings. The enhancements to NAdbase are a major part of the industry's multilevel initiative to be responsive to our advertisers," he added.

Visitors to http://www.newspaperaudience.com/ can sort newspaper audience data in a variety of ways, and generate Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Excel files with their results.

"Scarborough developed the online tool at the request of the NAA to make it easier for users to query the newspaper and newspaper Web site audience information available in NAdbase," said Gary Meo, senior vice president of Print and Internet Services for Scarborough Research. "Scarborough's participation in the NAdbase initiative underscores our commitment to help the industry promote audience and not just circulation as a metric for evaluating the power of newspaper advertising."

The NAdbase analysis shows the continued broad reach of the print audience, with three out of four adults in the top 50 markets (114 million) reading the newspaper over the course of a week. Two-thirds (66 percent) of 18- to 34-year olds in the top 50 markets are reading a newspaper during the course of a week, and nearly eight in 10 (77 percent) of 35- to 54-year-olds and 83 percent of those 55 and older read a newspaper in the past week (Scarborough).

Page views for newspaper Web sites increased 52 percent during the first half of 2006, according to NAdbase. In July 2006, 35 percent of all Internet users visited a newspaper Web site, a 27 percent increase from July 2005 (Nielsen//NetRatings). Newspapers own 11 of the top 25 national news and information Web sites, and locally, newspapers provide the dominant information site in most of the top 75 markets (Scarborough).

In markets across the nation, newspaper Web sites are providing a strong draw for younger demographics, in many cases expanding a paper's reach among those audiences by nearly 30 percent or better. (Audience reach is calculated by combining the average weekly audience for print and the net 30-day Web site audience.) The top 10 newspapers that have expanded their total reach through their Web sites for the 25-34 demographic are:

                                             Percent* Increase
  Newspaper                                 in 25-34 Demographic

  1) The Washington Times                           60.2 %
  2) Salt Lake City Desert Morning News             52.0 %
  3) Pittsburgh Tribune-Review                      48.3%
  4) Tampa Tribune                                  36.7 %
  5) Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill.)         35.0 %
  6) Boston Globe                                   32.8 %
  7) The Seattle Times                              31.9 %
  8) Sun-Sentinel (South Florida)                   31.2 % **
  9) Austin American-Statesman                      29.2 %
 10) Asbury Park (N.J.) Press                       28.9 %

  Source: Scarborough Research of newspaper print and online audience

*Percent increase of total newspaper readers in a week (five weekdays/one Sunday) to total newspaper readers and Web site users (five weekdays/one Sunday and used Web site in past 30 days)

** Reflects net from combined print and online usage in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach DMAs.

ABOUT THE NADBASE RESEARCH

NAdbase aggregates print and online audience data from Media Rating Council-accredited Scarborough Research and newspaper Web site data from Nielsen//NetRatings for the 100-plus newspapers representing most major markets. The fall 2006 NAdbase is the third release of detailed audience data since it was launched one year ago.

The new online tool was built by Scarborough Research, a leading media/market research firm, which measures 75 DMAs (including the top 50). Scarborough collects data via telephone interview and a mailed consumer survey booklet and seven-day TV diary. Scarborough collected fieldwork for Release One from February 2005 through March 2006. Scarborough's local-market newspaper audience and demographic data is audited and accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC).

Newspaper Web site usage data is supplied by Nielsen//NetRatings, a leading provider of Web audience usage data. Individual newspaper audience data is based on their MegaPanel syndicated service. Total newspaper Web audience data is based on custom analysis of their NetView syndicated service. Data is collected by tracking usage of more than 28,000 home and work Internet users recruited through Random Digit Dial. Data for this report is based on Web usage during the months of January to June 2005 and January to July 2006.

The newspaper audience demographic data reported for each publication in NAdbase includes gender, age group, household income level and total reach within their designated market areas. In addition, the report presents average weekday readership, cumulative readership over five weekdays, Sunday readership and readership over four consecutive Sundays. It also includes aggregate data for readership in the top 10, 25 and 50 markets. Data for newspaper Web sites includes total unique visitors and page impressions and number of visitors by household income levels in July 2006.

In addition to the home for NAdbase, the new advertiser site aggregates research and statistics on consumer use and perceptions of newspapers in print and online. Advertisers can download the industry's Value Proposition presentation and supporting material and view the latest ads on the value of newspaper media and search a database of online newspaper sales contacts and a database of newspaper Web sites. More features for advertisers will be coming soon. The site can be reached by http://www.newspaperaudience.com/ or http://www.naa.org/advertiser.

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $59 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as non-dailies and other publications published throughout the world. Headquartered just outside Washington in Vienna, Va., the Association focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry collectively: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development, newspaper operations and readership. Information about NAA and the industry may be found at http://www.naa.org/.