The Internet, say the seers of Cyberspace, will make newspapers obsolete. Maybe. But not right now. According to The Media Audit, a syndicated survey of both online and traditional media in more than 80 US markets, the websites of America's daily newspapers are building a commanding lead over other local media websites. Television - even network affiliates - and radio seem incapable, with few exceptions, of attracting the web audience numbers of daily newspaper websites. In addition, - and perhaps more importantly - newspapers are attracting to their websites an audience which complements their traditional/print subscriber base. The newspaper web audience is predominantly 18 to 44-year-olds in contrast to the traditional newspaper subscriber base, which is heaviest among those over 45. "In our most recent survey daily newspaper websites are out performing all other local media in 51 of 81 markets we covered," says Bob Jordan, co-chairman of the 30-year-old media rating service that produces The Media Audit. In 67 of those markets newspaper websites are attracting more than 10% of their immediate market's adult population. Almost all other local media are struggling to attract low, single-digit percentages. "There are some exceptions, some of them rather spectacular exceptions," says Jordan, "but they are very few." The Washington Post website leads the way in attracting an Internet audience with 32.8% of DC area adults visiting the site in a 30-day period. That figure (32.8%) is a percent of the total market population, not just a percent of adults on the web. Other daily newspapers following closely include websites of Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, 25.5%; Raleigh (North Carolina) News & Observer, 20.7%; Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer, 21.0% and Sacramento (California) Bee, 15.3%. Many newspapers have more than one local website but the data included here relates only to a newspaper's primary website. The 25 largest newspapers in the country, by circulation, are not necessarily among the top 25 websites when measured by penetration of their local market or SMSA. Only five newspapers would appear on both lists. The five and the percent of market adults visiting their sites are: Washington Post, 32.8%; Minneapolis Star Tribune, 20.0; Boston Globe, 17.2; Houston Chronicle, 15.4; and, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14.6. "These figures relate only to a newspaper's immediate market," says Jordan, "and do not reflect the regional, statewide or national audience that some newspaper web sites may attract. As an example, the New York Times website attracts significantly more viewers than does the Houston Chronicle but it only attracts 10.7% of the adults in its immediate market (20 counties in NY, NJ and CT). The Chronicle attracts 15.4 %."More than 90% of the country's 1400+ dailies have websites, some have more than one. "Almost all of the daily newspapers are decades old and their identities are indelibly established in the commun
Online advertising services and technology provider Interadnet announced that it has added a new reporting feature to its core ad serving technology that measures campaign effectiveness in terms of brand awareness.Called "Branding Value", the new feature measures completions - action taken by the user, such as filling out a form, asking for a subscription or purchasing a product - up to 30 days after an initial impression, and will help advertisers learn more about the branding effects of their online advertising, and how they translate into long-term awareness."Our new feature will allow clients to learn more about how effective their online branding efforts are," said Bill Freeman, CEO of Interadnet. "Ideally, they'll see that Web audiences retain the information from their ads and ultimately visit their Web site for more information - even if they don't click-through when they first see the banner or pop up."Freeman points out that others in the industry, including Interadnet, already have technology that measures Branding Value by Click - which measures completions after the initial click-through - but that the Branding Value by Impression feature is the only way to report on something other than a direct response.In addition to Branding Value, Interadnet has enhanced its Unique Views feature. This improvement will provide clients with a more in-depth and detailed view of their campaigns by allowing them to see "unique views" by individual channel and creative within the campaign - as opposed to just the full campaign. Interadnet has also added an On-Line Help feature - accessible on every screen of the user interface - that gives the user an opportunity to look at an index or search topic guides directly related to that interface or particular screen.
(AP) - ABC retained the prime-time ratings crown for a fourth straight week, according to Nielsen Media Research data released yesterday.Giving ABC an assist were the season return of "NYPD Blue" (ranked 19th place), "The American Music Awards" (23rd) and the premiere of the reality series "The Mole" (30th), as well as "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (in four of the top 17 slots) and "The Practice" (in a tie for 5th).For the week, ABC scored an average audience of 13.7 million viewers (9.0 household rating, 14 share).In second place, CBS had 12.5 million viewers (8.7 rating, 14 share), NBC had an average of 12.3 million viewers (8.3 rating, 13 share), while Fox had 10.6 million viewers (6.6 rating, 10 share).UPN had 3.9 million viewers (2.5 rating, 4 share), the WB had 3.8 million viewers (2.5 rating, 4 share), and Pax TV had 1.4 million viewers (0.9 rating, 1 share).Meanwhile in the news war, there were continued glad tidings for CBS. "The CBS Evening News," which traditionally occupies third place but snagged second in last week's report, held onto that slot in the current survey with 10.1 million viewers. ABC's "World News Tonight" had 10.0 million viewers (though edging out CBS in the ratings, 7.7 to 7.5)."NBC Nightly News" stood firm in first place with 11.5 million viewers (8.4 rating).A rating point represents 1,022,000 households, or 1% of the nation's estimated 102.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.For the week of Jan. 8-14, the top 10 shows, their networks and ratings: "ER," NBC, 18.8; AFC Championship_Postgame, CBS, 15.2; "Friends," NBC, 14.8; "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Wednesday), ABC, 14.1; tie: "Law & Order," NBC, "The Practice," ABC, and "Will & Grace," NBC, all 13.3; tie: "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Sunday), ABC, both 13.2; "Frasier," NBC, 12.5.