• by Masha Geller , July 24, 2002

While the most exciting topics of conversation this week may be the blurred line between online content and advertising, and AOL's dealings with the SEC, DoubleClick released the results of its Cross Media Reach Study earlier this week, which are much more valuable. The study compared the relative audience reach of Internet sites, network TV programs and consumer magazines, and it looks like the Internet's most popular sites consistently deliver larger audiences than the most watched television programs and are comparable in size to popular consumer magazines.

The study compared the 25 most popular Internet sites, primetime TV programs and consumer magazines across 12 different demographic categories, including age, race and gender, and found that on average, the top 3 sites attracted audience sizes 43% larger than the top three prime-time television programs. In addition, these same Internet sites attracted audience sizes that were on average only 5% less than the top three consumer magazines. (With 26.6 million readers, People Magazine is still the undisputed leader in attracting large audiences.)

"Earlier this year we talked to over 200 marketers who told us their top reason for not spending more online was that their customer was not online," said Susan Sachatello, Chief Marketing Officer at DoubleClick. "This study demonstrates that both in aggregate and in key target groups, the Internet is in fact a mainstream mass-market medium."

The study also found that in comparison to network TV and consumer magazines, the Internet is a highly effective medium for reaching certain demographic groups, including all males 18-49, high income males and high income adults 25-54. In these specific groups, the 25 most popular Internet sites deliver higher Gross Rating Points than the top 25 TV programs or magazines in these same demographic groups. Magazines, however, continue to far out-deliver both the Internet and television in reaching women 18-49 and blacks 18-49.

DoubleClick says this study will be conducted twice a year to track and analyze how consumer usage of each medium evolves.