ComScore’s latest report on audience for online newspapers shows:
– More than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience.
– New York Times has a huge lead with more than 32 million visitors and 719 million pages.
– Tribune Newspapers ranked second in terms of audience with 24.8 million visitors.
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Top Newspaper Groups
May 2010
Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix
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Total Unique Total Pages Average Pages
Visitors Viewed per Visitor
(000) (MM)
Total Internet : Total Audience 215,691 592,519 2,747
Newspapers 123,897 5,339 43
The New York Times Brand 32,530 719 22
Tribune Newspapers 24,753 359 14
Advance Internet 18,053 326 18
USA Today Sites 16,771 154 9
WashingtonPost.com 16,677 178 11
McClatchy Corporation 13,987 216 15
MediaNews Group 13,362 141 11
NYDailyNews.com 12,502 122 10
Hearst Newspapers 12,017 195 16
Wall Street Journal Online 11,325 115 10
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Foremski’s Take: These results show high demand for news but the frustration for newspaper companies is that high reader numbers don’t translate into revenues that can support their business of news gathering. This is the paradox of the newspaper business because high readership used to translate into higher revenues.
Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president, said:
“The issue is not attracting the eyeballs, but rather demonstrating the true value of those eyeballs to advertisers. As advertising rates for digital move closer into line with those of traditional media, the economics of the news business should begin to look a lot more promising.”
However, advertising rates as a whole are not moving “closer into line with those of traditional media.” Advertising rates are falling, they are moving more into line with the least expensive online rates. That’s the key problem for newspapers because as they transition to a digital business model the advertising rates are falling. You can’t get there from here.
Although comScore has found that viewers respond better to display advertising on a newspaper site, convincing enough advertisers to pay more is difficult.
More information here: The New York Times Ranks as Top Online Newspaper According to May 2010 U.S. comScore Media Metrix Data – comScore, Inc
Tom Foremski is the Editor and Founder of the popular and top-ranked news site Silicon Valley Watcher, reporting on business and culture of innovation. He is a former journalist at the Financial Times and in 2004, became the first journalist from a leading newspaper to resign and become a full-time journalist blogger.
Tom has been reporting on Silicon Valley and the US tech industry since 1984 and has been named as one of the top 50 (#28) most influential bloggers in Silicon Valley. His current focus is on the convergence of media and technology — the making of a new era for Silicon Valley. He also writes a column at ZDNET.
