NEW YORK, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Scarborough Research, the leading authority for newspaper readership information and consumer behavior, released an analysis of "Integrated Newspaper Audience," a new measurement that combines the audience of traditional printed newspapers with the audience of their websites. The analysis found that newspaper websites are contributing significant numbers of readers who do not necessarily read the printed publications, resulting in larger audiences overall. In addition, the audiences for newspaper websites tend to be younger than those of the printed newspaper, demonstrating that younger adults are interested in and engaged with newspaper content.
For example, in an average week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper reaches 51 percent of all adults in the Atlanta local market. When the net audience of the newspaper's websites are included -- AJC.com and AccessAtlanta.com -- the average weekly net reach of the printed newspaper and websites combined increases to 56 percent. This represents 10 percent more adults than the daily and Sunday newspaper reaches on its own. The overall newspaper total audience gains nearly 223,000 readers exclusively from the online audience.
"The Integrated Newspaper Audience story is one that is very positive for the newspaper industry," said Gary Meo, Senior Vice President of Print and Internet Services, Scarborough Research. "The evolution of the newspaper industry -- and media in general -- has demanded better research on how print and Internet audiences interact. Integrated Newspaper Audience data does this, and our analysis is showing that newspapers are successfully leveraging their websites to grow their audiences, especially among younger readers."
"We no longer consider our print audience to be separate from our online audience," said Jim Wilson, Director of Research and Audience Development at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We provide our advertisers with multiple channels for reaching adults in Atlanta, and our reach within our marketplace is growing. Scarborough's Integrated Newspaper Audience measurements will give us a comprehensive picture of our readership so our clients can better understand the value of our media properties."
In addition, the Scarborough analysis finds that newspaper web sites are attracting younger audiences online. For example, the audience for AJC.com and AccessAtlanta.com is significantly younger than the audience of the printed newspaper. While about 28 percent of the readers of the printed newspaper are between the ages of 18 and 34, over 38 percent of the websites' audience is in this age group.
"We believe that Integrated Audiences will benefit newspapers and their customers," said Steve Seraita, Executive Vice President and Director of Sales, Scarborough Research. "Newspaper websites will play a vital role in the media buy and will no longer be 'add-ons.' Advertisers and agencies on all levels will have a more comprehensive and accurate valuation of the whole newspaper audience."
Integrated Newspaper Audience information is currently available with Scarborough's Release 1 2005 Local Market Studies, many of which have already been released to the marketplace. Scarborough's local market database release schedule can be found at http://www.scarborough.com.
Since 1974, Scarborough Research has been the currency for newspaper readership data. Scarborough measures daily readership, Sunday readership, and daily section readership and now the latest metric that combines print and online readership: Integrated Newspaper Audience. Scarborough's newspaper data is MRC (Media Rating Council) accredited. Hundreds of newspapers across the United States, along with the advertisers and agencies they serve, rely on Scarborough insights to express the value of titles and measure ROI for newspaper advertising investments.
