Commentary

Tossup on Future Print, But Relevant Today

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, March 12, 2009

A new survey of American readers by The Rosen Group, about the state of current and future media, found that nearly 80% of respondents still subscribe to magazines and 83% find that daily newspapers are still relevant. 45% though, of those surveyed, said that newspapers and magazines will exist in 10 years, while 40% were uncertain.

Lori Rosen, founder and president of The Rosen Group, points out that these findings suggest that, though there is a strong shift to online news consumption and a preference for online sources for breaking news, Americans still find print publications to be important sources, especially for entertainment.

Rosen concludes that "... people are not abandoning their print editions... there is still a certain satisfaction and ease to holding printed text in your hands, and PDAs or PCs will not replace this just yet."

Other survey findings:

29% of respondents say a news website is the most indispensable news source, while 18% select print newspapers and 16% cite online newspapers
55% say they look at a printed newspaper each day, 53% subscribe to a print newspaper, and 83% say newspapers are still relevant
30% say news websites are their top source for updates, and 66% say that websites are among their daily news sources
65% of respondents find weekly news magazines relevant
29% of respondents read blogs multiple times a day, 8% read them once a week, 37% read them occasionally and 37% never read them
60% of respondents believe the information on blogs is not credible

Though the majority of Americans go online to learn about daily breaking news, print magazines remain one of the top sources for entertainment, advice and lifestyle information.

Source(s) of News
*News Source*	*% of Respondents* (Multiple Response OK)
News website	65.3%
Newspaper (online)	56.7
Newspaper (print)	55.4
National TV news	55.1
Local television affiliate	41.8
News aggregator	35.9
Blogs	22.6
Social networking site	10.5
Source: The Rosen Group, February 2009

The survey found that despite a growing preference for online news sites, print magazines are a leading entertainment source. Nearly 80% of respondents say they subscribe to magazines vs. 53% for newspapers.

Primary Media Source of Entertainment, Advice, Lifestyle Information (% of Respondents)
*Primary Source*	*% of Respondents*
Print magazines	27.0%
Website	25.2
Blogs	10.9
Print newspaper	10.2
National TV network	7.5
Online magazines	6.8
Social networking site	5.9
Online newspaper	5.0
Local TV affiliate	1.6
Source: The Rosen Group, February 2009

For additional information, please contact the Rosen Group here, or Marketing Charts for tables.

future of media, magazines, newspapers, online publishing, research, trends

5 comments about "Tossup on Future Print, But Relevant Today".

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David Holland from Spectatus.com, March 12, 2009 at 10:03 a.m.
This research would be a 100x more relevant if it gave demographic context. I'd be more interested in knowing what 18 to 35's thought.
Reply

Marla Cassi, March 12, 2009 at 1:51 p.m.

I agree with David but I'd like to take it further. I'd like to see all the demos (age, income, education, etc.).

Marla Cassi, March 12, 2009 at 1:56 p.m.

I'd also like to know how the survey was conducted and it's methodology.

Mike Kelly from LIN Media, March 12, 2009 at 6:50 p.m.

Was a comparison done btween the "53% that subscribe to a daily newspaper" and actual subscription numbers by just the top ten market's newspapers? Not circulation, but paying subscribers. If 53% of the population subscribed...I don't think they'd be stopping the presses as fast as they are. Interesting that they listed: newspapers, newspaper websites and TV stations. The key omission being local TV station websites which are quickly meeting and beating local newspaper site's traffic due to the rich video content that is added constantly.

Garry Mendez, March 23, 2009 at 3 p.m.

There was an interesting tidbit about Americans finding print to still be relevant, especially for entertainment. Print isn't dying but the deck of media usage is getting shuffled and we're all being dealt new hands. The newspaper folks are figuring out that their core business is news, not ink and paper. The delivery mechanism is almost irrelevant for them.