Online Newspaper Audience Sets Records in First Quarter

This news release provides a summary of, data from, and links to further information about a report detailing the extent to which people in the United States (USA) are reading newspapers online.

Specifically, an analysis provided by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) indicates a trend away from reading of the printed format of the newspaper, and toward online viewing. For instance, in the first quarter of 2007, more than 59 million people (37.6% of all active internet users) visited newspaper websites on average, a record number that represents a 5.3% increase over the same period a year ago; this created a collective 3 billion page views a month. Another finding was that users continue to increase the amount of time they spend on newspaper websites, with the average visitor spending more than 45 minutes per month during the quarter (an 11.5% increase, compared to a similar analysis carried out in 2006).

NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm commented on these findings by suggesting that "[t]hese record-setting numbers underscore newspapers' success in capturing online audiences and the importance of newspaper Web sites to the growing newspaper footprint."

This report follows NAA's spring 2007 Newspaper Audience Database (NAdbase) report, which features research on the total audience (print readership and online usage) of the United States' top 100 newspapers. NAdbase revealed that, on average, newspaper websites have helped drive a 13.7% increase in total newspaper audience for 25- to 34-year-olds and a 9.2% increase for 18- to 24-year-olds (according to data from Scarborough Research). For access to the latest NAdbase numbers, click here.