Paper cuts
by January 20, 2010 9:00 am 82 views
Newspapers around the country are struggling. 2009 saw a few newspapers change their business model to an online focus or shut down completely, according to a survey sponsored by Adweek Media.
The poll, conducted by Harris, suggests that 2010 will most likely see the same struggle for newspapers and, perhaps, new business models emerge for these media entities.
Harris conducted the online survey of 2,136 U.S. adults between Dec. 14-16, 2009.
“The struggles of the daily newspaper will continue as Americans have more and more ways to find the news content they need and want,” noted an Adweek Media statement. “The challenge for newspapers will be discovering a way to get their content to people and make money doing so. One area they were intently exploring was charging for online content, though it appears they need to find another way.”
SURVEY FINDINGS
• Just two in five U.S. adults (43%) say they read a daily newspaper, either online or in print almost every day. Just over seven in ten Americans (72%) say they read one at least once a week while 81% read a daily newspaper at least once a month. One in ten adults (10%) say they never read a daily newspaper.
• Almost two-thirds of those aged 55 and older (64%) say they still read a daily newspaper almost every day.
• Just over two in five of those aged 45-54 (44%) read a paper almost every day as do 36% of those aged 35-44. But less than one quarter of those aged 18-34 (23%) say they read a newspaper almost every day while 17% in this age group say they never read a daily newspaper.
• One potential business model that newspapers are exploring is charging a monthly fee to read a daily newspaper’s content online. This model, however, seems unlikely to work as three-quarters of online adults (77%) say they would not be willing to pay anything to read a newspaper’s content online. While some are willing to pay, one in five online adults (19%) would only pay between $1 and $10 a month for this online content and only 5% would pay more than $10 a month.
• Over four in five online adults in the Northeast (81%) say they would not be willing to pay anything to read a daily newspaper’s content online. Those across the country, however, are more willing. While seven in ten Westerners (71%) still say they would not pay, almost one-quarter (24%) of Westerners would pay between $1 and $10 a month to read a paper’s content online.