VIENNA, Va., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly one in three Internet users (29 percent) read an online newspaper in March 2005, representing a total audience of nearly 44 million people, according to a new report by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America. The data, which takes into account both home and work Internet usage, shows a 3.1 percent increase in unique audience in March to Newspaper Web sites, compared with the same period a year ago.
March signaled the high water mark in online newspaper readership over the past 15 months, demonstrating that online newspapers are drawing new users even as NetRatings' data shows that unique visitors to other news and information sites dropped by four percent, according to NAA.
"Newspapers have always been among the most valued, reliable and credible information mediums available, and their success online proves that reputation translates outside the core print product," said John F. Sturm, NAA president and CEO. "In addition to the leadership position national newspapers hold online, newspapers also typically own the leading local information Internet sites in their markets. This data confirms that the use of newspaper Web sites represents one of the largest and growing single audience collectives on the Internet, and demonstrates that newspapers continue to attract readers through online brand extensions and new products," Sturm said.
Eliza Wing, president of Cleveland.com and president of NAA's New Media Federation agreed, saying, "It is clear from this research that the online newspaper audience is gaining ground. Not only do newspapers reach a vast audience, as other NAA research has pointed out, these are very loyal users, connected to their local news site and to the information, including advertising that appears there. The newspaper online audience presents an enormous opportunity." Wing cited NAA's 2004 "Power Users" study with Minneapolis-based MORI Research, which demonstrates the online newspaper audience on average is younger, better educated, more likely to be employed and more diverse ethnically than the general Internet population.
The NetRatings newspaper total represents a de-duplicated visitor total taken from its combined home and work panel of Internet users. The target adult sample (16 years or older) has access from a non-shared PC at work and access from home (i.e. an individual who might read a national newspaper plus their local newspaper online is only counted once.) The NetRatings newspaper total represents the de-duplicated reach of hundreds of sites collectively.
Across the board, online newspaper usage is trending up. Unique audience grew by nearly 9 percent from February 2005 to March 2005, page view consumption grew by 38 percent, pages per person by 27 percent, visits per person went up 5 percent, and time per person increased 6 percent. The data also shows that average quarterly reach in the first quarter of 2005 was 29.0 percent compared with 27.5 percent during the first quarter a year ago.
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NetRatings, Inc. provides the industry's global standard for Internet and digital media measurement and analysis, offering technology-driven Internet information solutions for media, advertising, ecommerce and financial companies which enable customers to make informed decisions regarding their Internet strategies.
*2004 was a leap year and may account for higher results in unique audience during the month of February.
