Study: Online-only readership at 3.5%
Posted by Emily Dilling on April 17, 2009 at 5:35 AM
A study conducted by Martin Langeveld at the Nieman Journalism Lab found that only 3.5 percent of readers do their newspaper reading online only, the Columbia Journalism Review reported this week.
The study compares pages of printed newspapers viewed by readers with online pages visited by readers. "We don't have clear data about the average number pages each member of that audience looks at, but let's make an educated guess: 24. That translates to about 87.1 billion printed page views per month," Langeveld stated. As for online traffic, assuming that only one person is reading the online edition per hit, online newspapers "averaged 3.2 billion online page views per month" in 2008.
The study compares pages of printed newspapers viewed by readers with online pages visited by readers. "We don't have clear data about the average number pages each member of that audience looks at, but let's make an educated guess: 24. That translates to about 87.1 billion printed page views per month," Langeveld stated. As for online traffic, assuming that only one person is reading the online edition per hit, online newspapers "averaged 3.2 billion online page views per month" in 2008.
The online numbers may be slightly askew, as the article's author Ryan Chittum explains that numbers from a site's monitor, that counts actual traffic, and statistics that come from survey responses will always vary.
However, the findings remain surprising and hearken back to a 2006 study by The Pew Research Center, which found the online news audience to be "broader rather than deep."
Pew's study revealed that of the 6 percent of participants who said they read online newspapers, only 2 percent claimed to use online newspapers as their only news source.
The study showed that of the 23 percent of respondents who said they consulted an Internet news site in the last 24 hours, the majority visited sites such as Yahoo! or MSNBC, sites that aggregate news and provide headlines and updates on news stories.
Langeveld concluded his study proposing that, in light of his findings, it is possible that newspapers manipulate their accounting records and attribute "a disproportionate share of their revenue to their online editions" in order to attract advertisers.
City University on London recently conducted another study that questions the success and effectiveness of online-only newspapers. That study's findings showed that a move to an online-only format could cut a newspaper's revenue more than its costs.
However, the findings remain surprising and hearken back to a 2006 study by The Pew Research Center, which found the online news audience to be "broader rather than deep."
Pew's study revealed that of the 6 percent of participants who said they read online newspapers, only 2 percent claimed to use online newspapers as their only news source.
The study showed that of the 23 percent of respondents who said they consulted an Internet news site in the last 24 hours, the majority visited sites such as Yahoo! or MSNBC, sites that aggregate news and provide headlines and updates on news stories.
Langeveld concluded his study proposing that, in light of his findings, it is possible that newspapers manipulate their accounting records and attribute "a disproportionate share of their revenue to their online editions" in order to attract advertisers.
City University on London recently conducted another study that questions the success and effectiveness of online-only newspapers. That study's findings showed that a move to an online-only format could cut a newspaper's revenue more than its costs.
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