Commentary

Alternative Weeklies Use Website to Gain Readers

Alternative Weeklies Use Website to Gain Readers

Twenty-five of the 90 alternative weeklies surveyed by The Media Audit have collectively added more than two million readers via their websites, says a recent MediaAudit release.

Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics, said "These are not gross website visitor numbers, they represent the net gain from the websites." According to Jordan the alternative weeklies didn't immediately embrace websites "but most eventually became aggressive and achieved some very impressive gains."

Thirty-one of the 90 alternatives surveyed added more than 30,000 new readers through their websites. Jordan notes, "It's not just the big weeklies that have made the gains (via the Web)..."

The report shows that the weekly New York Village Voice attracts 556,500 readers each month but after elimination of those who also read the print edition the publication's net gain is 242,896.

The 4-edition cume for Columbus Alive (Ohio) is 133,100 readers. Through their website they achieved a net gain of 55,627. "That's a significant gain in reach for any publication," says Jordan.

Only 26 of the 90 alternative weeklies covered in the survey failed to gain at least 10,000 new readers via their websites. And only 33 of the weeklies have fewer than 200,000 readers after adding the net gain from their websites, concludes the report.

Weeklies That Achieved Net Readership Gains, Via Their Websites, Of At Least 30,000

Net Additions

New York Village Voice

242,896

LA Weekly

222,796

OC Weekly

151,286

New York Long Island Press

131,559

SF Weekly

118,922

New York Press

111,915

Chicago Reader

102,130

San Francisco East Bay Express

98,451

San Francisco Bay Guardian

96,079

Dallas Observer

77,300

Houston Press

73,708

Seattle Weekly

62,843

Columbus Alive

55,627

Detroit Metro Times

52,211

Philadelphia Weekly

51,915

Miami City Link

51,042

Chicago New City

49,062

Washington City Paper

48,776

Columbus The Other Paper

47,697

Minneapolis City Pages

46,259

Miami New Times

45,090

San Antonio Current

44,188

Salt Lake City Weekly

43,142

Orlando Weekly

43,055

Austin Chronicle

41,795

Atlanta Creative Loafing

36,186

Baltimore City Paper

35,795

Greensboro Go Triad

32,783

Philadelphia City Paper

32,632

San Diego Reader

31,200

San Diego City Beat

30,397

Source: The Media Audit

More information from The Media Audit may he accessed here.

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