Commentary
Tablets Capturing Newspaper Viewers
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 16, 2012
According to a recent comScore study, from its TabLens service, nearly 2 in 5 U.S. tablet owners read newspapers and/or magazines on their device in August, with 1 in 10 reading publications almost daily. Analysis of readership activities across platforms revealed that Kindle Fire users displayed the strongest propensity for reading newspapers and magazines on their device.
Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile, says “... tablets are... redefining how people consume news and information... with the format more conducive to reading longer form content... in the case of online newspapers, tablets are now driving 7% of total newspaper page views... impressive... considering the relative infancy of the tablet space... “
In the three-month average period ending August 2012, 37.1% of tablet owners read a newspaper on their device at least once during the month, with 11.5% of tablet owners reading newspapers almost every day.
Kindle Fire users demonstrated the greatest tendency to read newspapers, with 39.2% doing so in August, slightly edging out iPad at 38.3%. NOOK Tablet owners boasted the greatest percentage of high-frequency newspaper readers with 13.4% doing so on a near daily basis.
Magazines/periodicals showed even higher readership rates than newspapers with 39.6% of tablet owners reading magazines on their device during the month. Kindle Fire owners once again showed the highest readership rate at 43.9%, followed by iPad users at 40.3%.
Newspaper and Magazine Readership Analysis Across Tablets (3 month avg. ending Aug. 2012; Total U.S. Tablet Owners, Age 13+) | |||||
| % Share of Tablet Audience 13+ yrs old | ||||
Media | Total Tablet | iPad | Android Tablet | Kindle Fire | NOOK Tablet |
Read newspapers | |||||
Almost every day | 11.5% | 12.0% | 12.1% | 12.8% | 13.4% |
At least once each week | 11.0% | 12.2% | 10.1% | 12.3% | 8.3% |
Once to three times throughout the month | 14.6% | 14.2% | 14.6% | 14.1% | 10.1% |
Ever in month | 37.1% | 38.3% | 36.8% | 39.2% | 31.8% |
Read magazines or periodicals | |||||
Almost every day | 9.7% | 9.4% | 10.4% | 11.3% | 9.4% |
At least once each week | 13.3% | 13.8% | 12.7% | 16.0% | 15.0% |
Once to three times throughout the month | 16.7% | 17.1% | 15.5% | 16.6% | 15.0% |
Ever in month | 39.6% | 40.3% | 38.5% | 43.9% | 39.4% |
Source: comScore TabLens, November 2012 | |||||
comScore defines a media tablet as a touchscreen tablet device with a slate form factor, a 7 inch or greater screen size and a data connection, but no voice plan. Single purpose eBook reader devices are excluded from this definition.
Newspaper and magazine tablet audiences closely resembled one another in gender, age and household income distribution, says the report. Newspaper audiences were 17% more likely to be male compared to an average tablet owner (index of 117), while magazine audiences were 11% more likely to be male (index of 111).
People between the ages of 25-34 represented the highest share of readers, accounting for 27.4% of newspaper consumers, and 28.2% of magazine/periodical consumers. People age 35-44 accounted for 1 in 5 readers in both categories. More than half of readers had a household income of $75k or greater, while those in the highest income segment of $100k or greater skewed most heavily toward readership.
Newspaper and Magazine Readership on Tablets (3 month avg. ending Aug. 2012; % of Total U.S. Tablet Owners, Age 13) | ||||||
| Read newspaper % of Audience | Composition Index (100=Avg) | Read magazines or periodicals % of Audience | Composition Index (100=Avg) | ||
Gender: | ||||||
Male | 57.5% | 117 | 54.6% | 111 | ||
Female | 42.5% | 83 | 45.4% | 89 | ||
Age: | ||||||
13-17 | 4.0% | 66 | 5.3% | 87 | ||
18-24 | 14.1% | 98 | 15.3% | 106 | ||
25-34 | 27.4% | 123 | 28.2% | 127 | ||
35-44 | 20.1% | 103 | 21.1% | 108 | ||
45-54 | 18.4% | 99 | 17.5% | 94 | ||
55-64 | 9.5% | 90 | 7.4% | 70 | ||
65+ | 6.5% | 75 | 5.3% | 61 | ||
Household Income: | ||||||
<$25k | 7.5% | 83 | 7.8% | 87 | ||
$25k to <$50k | 16.7% | 95 | 17.5% | 99 | ||
$50k to <$75k | 19.8% | 100 | 19.4% | 98 | ||
$75k to <$100k | 16.7% | 98 | 16.6% | 97 | ||
$100k+ | 39.3% | 108 | 38.7% | 107 | ||
Source: comScore TabLens, November 2012 | ||||||
comScore defines a media tablet as a touchscreen tablet device with a slate form factor, a 7 inch or greater screen size and a data connection, but no voice plan. Single
purpose eBook reader devices are excluded from this definition.
For additional information from comScore, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
Very informative article on tablet users.
However, it would be useful to know what percent of the individual groups in the tables have paid to read their newspaper or magazine content on their tablets.