Newspaper websites boost market penetration

The flailing newspaper industry looks to be gaining a boost from their websites. According to a special release from The Media Audit, newspaper websites have helped improve market penetration by as much as 80%.

by Kristina Knight

Bob Jordan, vice president of International Demographics for The Media Audit says newspapers are making impressive gains, thanks in large part to their websites. "As recently as 2003 just 30 daily newspapers had attracted more than 20 percent of adults in their immediate market to their websites. Our current numbers show 49 dailies have attracted more than 25 percent of adults and 30 dailies have attracted 30 percent or more," said Jordan (via Center for Media Research).

The New Orleans Times-Picayune has seen the largest web penetration with 87.3%. Other newspapers leading the way on the web include Omaha World-Herald (84.1% market penetration), Buffalo News (83.3% market penetration) and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (83.3% market penetration).

Placing the bulk of newspaper content online and in easily searchable databases has certainly helped publishers regain a portion of the market share, but adding "extras" - blogs and other online-only content - are keeping the readers coming back. According to Nielsen//Netratings, about 13% of the visits to newspapers sites are to read newspaper blogs.

The Media Audit's complete report will be released at the Newspaper Association of America Marketing Convention in Las Vegas, January 28-31.