New metric integrates newspaper readership with the online audience

Newspaper publishers may get a bump in their online rankings thanks to a new metrics service. Audience-FAX is said to reflect the actual reach and readership of newspapers.

by Kristina Knight

Readership has fallen in the past few years as more readers turned to the Internet for their news and information. Because of the drop, advertisers have begun putting more of their ad dollars online, too. The new measuring service could turn that trend around.

The database will pull top-line data from Publisher’s Statements including average circulation, average print and online readership, combined audience, and total unique Web site users. It will also include expanded demographic information for print readership.

Audience-FAX gathers data from publisher's statements and will compile circulation of both print and online readers, will compare the online and offline audience and offer total unique online users. The information will be culled into an online database which advertisers can then use. Marketers can view and create reports from print papers and their online counterparts around the U.S. They can then compare and contrast the readership, demographics and other information of papers in different cities, states and regions to better decide where and when to advertise.

"Audience-FAX brings a 360-degree view of a newspaper’s readers—both print and online,” said Bob Cohen, president & CEO, Scarborough Research. “As the newspaper industry’s primary service for audience ratings, Scarborough data provides insights that advertisers need in an increasingly multimedia and multiplatform environment.”