• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 4, 2006

A new analysis from Scarborough Research of "Integrated Newspaper Audience," a measurement that combines the audience of traditional printed newspapers with the audience of their websites, found that newspapers are successfully extending their reach beyond the core printed products, resulting in net increases in audience.

The "Online Exclusive" audience, the audience that reads a newspaper's website but not its printed version, accounts for two to 15 percent of the Integrated Newspaper Audience of the publications examined in this analysis, says the report. This represents hundreds of thousands of readers for many newspapers in larger markets.

The analysis goes on to say that in an average week, The Arizona Republic print edition reaches 56 percent1 of adults in the Phoenix market. When the net audience of the newspaper's websites, azcentral.com and ArizonaRepublic.com, is included, the average weekly net reach of the printed newspaper and websites combined increases to 59 percent. The websites contribute 119,501 additional readers who do not read the printed newspaper, an increase of nearly seven percent more adults than are reached by the daily and Sunday newspaper on its own.

Other insight into the characteristics of newspapers' online audiences from the report shows that newspapers across the board are successfully attracting 18- to 34-year-olds to their websites. About 30 percent of the adults who visited The Tampa Tribune websites, TampaTrib.com and TBO.com, each week are ages 18-34. In comparison, 22 percent of the adults who read the weekly printed newspaper in an average week are within this age group. Similar results were found at the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's sites, ajc.com and accessatlanta.com, where 37 percent of weekly visitors are ages 18-34, compared to 28 percent of weekly print readers.

The analysis revealed that not only are newspaper website patrons just as desirable from a marketing perspective as their print counterparts, but in many instances, they are even more upscale.

About 60 percent of those who read at least one issue of The Washington Post during the past week have annual household incomes of $75,000 or more. In contrast, 73 percent of the visitors to washingtonpost.com have annual household incomes in this range. 36 percent of the weekly print audience of The Arizona Republic fall in the $75,000+ household income bracket, while 43 percent of visitors to the newspaper's two websites are in this range.

In general, notes the analysis, newspapers that have nationwide appeal and cachet, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today perform well online. Newspapers that have a specialty area of expertise typically driven by the prominent industry in their geographic location could also have national appeal. For example, The Washington Post (politics), The Detroit News and The Detroit Free Press (automotive), and the Los Angeles Times (entertainment) might draw online readers because of their specialty coverage of an industry.

25 percent of the The Washington Post's total integrated audience, representing 778,502 readers, read the daily paper AND visit the website. Another five percent of the total integrated audience is online exclusive: These 140,521 readers rely solely on the online version.

Hyde Post, of The Atlanta Journal- Constitution, says "Part of our opportunity is having multiple platforms to reach the audience in our market... One at a time, they can be niche target opportunities; together, they can form the new definition of mass."

You can read the complete study analysis here.