• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, July 18, 2007

The Audit Bureau of Circulations is set to begin incorporating data from Scarborough Research, Nielsen//NetRatings, comScore and server-based analytic tools to give subscribers a holistic view of newspaper audiences, including unduplicated print and online readership. The new "Audience-FAX" figures, scheduled to launch November 5, will give newspaper publishers the option of reporting print, online and net combined readership.

The data will also be made available to ABC members in a database hosted by Scarborough, which will allow users to create custom reports focused on specific publications and demographic segments.

Publishers hope that the initiative, approved at the ABC board meeting last Saturday, will give a much-needed boost to newspapers, which have struggled to demonstrate accountability and transparency in measurement to advertisers.

With most big newspapers investing heavily in an Internet presence, advertisers are demanding specific, unduplicated figures for print and online readership. And the unduplicated ABC audience figures--while smaller than those achieved by simply adding up Internet and print readership--may compensate newspaper publishers with proof of a highly engaged audience that interacts with their brand across several platforms.

A recent study by Scarborough, commissioned by the Newspaper National Network, confirmed that there is a great deal of overlap between newspapers' print and online readership, with 81% of respondents saying they regularly consume both types of media.

Within this group, 63% read printed newspapers in the morning (before 10 a.m.), versus just 34% who visit newspapers' Web sites in the same time period. Conversely, 46% of these "crossover" users visit the Web sites in the afternoon or evening, versus a relatively lower 41% who read printed newspapers in those time periods.