A new study of newspapers' Web offerings shows that online video has become a nearly ubiquitous feature offered by major U.S. publications. The Bivings Group study, which analyzed the Web offerings of
the top 100 newspapers according to Fas-Fax data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, found that 92 of the largest newspaper sites now offer video, a 31 percent jump from a year ago. Their video
sources are varied: 39 papers offer original video content, 26 use video from the Associated Press, 13 use video from local news outlets and 10 papers use at least two types of video content on their
site.
The study found that use of other online features increased in nearly every category, too. Ninety-seven of the 100 papers offer RSS and text feeds, while 95 have at least one
reporter blog. Forty-nine papers have podcasts, compared with 31 last year, while 44 provide some sort of bookmarking, compared with just seven last year. The number of sites requiring users to
register also increased to 29, with three requiring paid subscription after registering. Mobile offerings from U.S. newspaper publishers are also on the rise, with some 53 papers creating content
specifically for mobile devices.
Newspapers are also adding social media features. The number of papers permitting user comments rose from 19 to 33, while nearly 25 percent accept
some kind of user-generated content, from videos to photos and articles. Five papers, including USA Today, The Denver Post and The Washington Post offer social networking on their
site.
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