Newspaper Web sites in the United States received an average monthly unique audience of 72 million visitors during the fourth quarter of last year, which represents 37 percent of all Internet users, reported WebProNews today. The data was obtained through Nielsen Online research that the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) published.

Newspaper Web sites stopped attracting new users, according to Editor & Publisher. According to the Nielsen figures, the number of unique users dropped from 73.2 million to 72.3 between November and October 2009, and plunged to 70.3 million in December.

The average time spent per person in October was 34 minutes and 14 seconds, whereas during November it was 32 minutes and 44 seconds and during December it was 34 minutes and 52 seconds. "These strong and consistent audience figures come as newspaper publishers continue to transition their companies into multiplatform content providers to meet the needs of today's audience. As the economy begins to stabilize, newspaper companies are in position to leverage their trusted brands to reach a highly engaged audience and deliver maximum value to advertisers," said NAA President John F. Sturm, according to MediaBistro.