This survey teaches us that people are moving from print to their tablet devices, in this case the IPad to read the news. But what is a little suspicious is that it claims that people are dropping their print subscriptions at an alarming rate- if they spend more than an hour a day reading news on their IPad.  And out of the 1,600 people surveyed they never actually say how many spend an hour a day reading news on their IPad.

From AdWeek. Full story here

Are iPad Apps Killing Newspapers? Survey Says…

Apple tablet–using respondents canceling paper subscriptions at alarming rate

Dec 9, 2010

- Lucia Moses

Are iPad apps the new newspaper killer? A new survey out today showed that print newspaper subscribers who are heavy iPad users are “very likely” to cancel their print subscriptions.
 
The survey by the University of Missouri’s Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute is one of the first deep dives into how people are consuming news content on the eight-month-old device and its potential impact on print readership.
 
RJI gathered responses from more than 1,600 iPad users online from September to November.
 
The survey showed that 58 percent of respondents who use the Apple tablet at least an hour a day for news are very likely to cancel their subscription in the next six months. One in 10 said they had already done so and have switched to reading digital newspapers on their iPad.
 
A potential positive finding for newspapers as they try to charge people for their digital content is, nine in 10 said they were likely to use newspapers’ apps to get news, rather than using a Web browser to go to the papers’ Web sites, most of which are free.
 
“These findings are encouraging for newspaper publishers who plan to begin charging for subscriptions on their iPad app editions early next year, but our survey also found a potential downside: iPad news apps may diminish newspaper print subscriptions in 2011," said Roger Fidler, RJI’s program director for digital publishing.
 
In a separate survey released today, GfK MRI found about equal amounts of adults reading newspapers and magazines via apps or mobile devices. Four percent of adults reported reading a newspaper via an app in the past 30 days, compared with 3.7 percent of adults reading magazine content this way.

 

From adoperationsonline.com. Full story here

 Two out of Three Americans Prefer Print Media In Spite of the Benefits of the Digital Revolution

NEW YORK – According to new research, digital media is no substitute for traditional printed media. A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Earthtone suggests that most people choose how they consume media based on personal preferences.

Research shows that the majority of U.S. adults think that printed media is easier to read than the digital equivalent. Interestingly, most adults reported that they feel more comfortable when they have something on paper than when it’s on screen, suggesting that we make an instinctive association between things we can touch and feel and things that are ‘real’.

 

 

From Print In the Mix:

A new National Newspaper Association (NNA) survey finds that 81% of respondents read a local weekly paper each week.  NNA is the national organization for community newspapers (often referred to as "weeklies").

• Nearly half (47%) say they read the newspaper as much for the ads as for the news.

• 73% read "most or all of it," and those readers spend an average of 40 minutes with the paper.

• Readers, on average, share their paper with 2.36 additional readers.

• Nearly 40% keep their community newspaper more than a week.

• Three-quarters of readers read local news "often to very often" in their community newspaper, while 53% say they never read local news online.  Only 12% say they read local news "often to very often" online.
  
  
• Among those going online for local news, 63% find it on the local newspaper's website, compared to 17% for sites such as Google, and 12% from the website of a local TV station.

• 30% of respondents do not have home Internet access.

   Full story here
  

 

I hope they are right. 

From Paid Content.org: "Forget about what you’ve heard—apparently readers are happy to pay for content. Or at least that’s what News Corp (NYSE: NWS). which plans to charge readers globally for access to News Corp websites, says its internal research has shown. According to a memo from Richard Freudenstein, CEO of News Digital Media, the online arm of News Corp.‘s Australian subsidiary News Limited, the company is confident about the success of the plan, which is entering a “second phase” in Australia.

In a memo leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald, he says: “News has conducted some audience research here in Australia and in the UK and U.S., which gives us confidence that, if we get the product and delivery system right, people will happily pay for news content online, on their computer, mobile, e-reader or other devices.”

 

This survey shows some very positive numbers for response from newspaper advertising. Most of the vital stats are below. As we have said before, surveys showing that newspaper advertising works are pretty common. What is not common is the ability to show advertisers that it is working for them. At Mediabids.com, we do this by incorporating unique 800#s into many of the ads we place. This allows us to show the thousands of advertisers who use our website to buy print ads exactly how many responses (at least by phone) they have received. It isn't hard and much of the time the results we show validate the findings of surveys like this (this one from printinthemix.edu), which in the absense of hard data, can seem too good to be true:

July 15, 2009 -- Newspaper advertising remains the leading advertising medium cited by consumers in planning, shopping and making purchasing decisions, according to early data from a MORI Research survey of more than 3,000 adults, conducted on behalf of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).

This study, part of a series entitled “American Consumer Insights,” examined the impact newspaper advertising has on consumer shopping and spending patterns. Early results indicate:

• Nearly six in 10 adults (59%) identify newspapers as the medium they use to help plan shopping or make purchase decisions
• 82 % of those surveyed said they “took action” as a result of newspaper advertising, including:
  • Clipping a coupon (61%)
  • Buying something (50%)
  • Visiting websites to learn more (33%)
  • Trying something for the first time (27%)
• 73% of adults say they regularly or occasionally read newspaper inserts
• 82% have been spurred to action by a newspaper insert in the past month.

 

Primary Medium for Checking Advertising	2009
Newspapers	41%
Internet	21%
Direct mail	14%
Television	8%
Catalogs	6%
Magazines	3%
Radio	2%
None of these	5%

A study by the Inland Press Association shows what you would expect in the largest papers - the last five years were tough. However, revenue increased in daily newspapers with under 15,000 circulation. 

"A triple whammy of declining circulation, advertising and classified revenue has been eroding the profits at U.S. dailies over the past five years, according to a report by the Inland Press Association. The sole circulation group showing a hopeful sign was the under 15,000-circulation category, which actually showed a 2.5 percent growth in gross revenues during the five-year period ending in 2008."

The study shows that, although the trends are not good, most newspapers are still profitable.

"The Trend Analysis average overall shows newspaper operating profits still ranged from more than 8.5 percent to 13.6 percent of gross revenue in all circulation groups except 25,001-50,000."