USA: more broadband = more readers turning to the web for news

Posted by Bertrand Pecquerie on March 24, 2006 at 11:52 AM

More than 50m Americans per day used the internet as their primary news source in 2005 - that's up from 27m in 2002 - according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (through the EJC newsletter).

"In the US, checking the daily news is the third most popular activity on the internet, the
study found. Pew attributed the increase to the rise in broadband availability and subscriptions in the home. Since 2002, the number of home broadband subscribers has risen from 20m to 70m, the group said."

"While 65 per cent of dial-up users and 57 per cent of broadband subscribers still use local and network television to get their daily news, it is no longer their exclusive source. Of broadband users, 46 per
cent overall used the internet as a primary news source, compared with only 26 per cent of dial-up subscribers, Pew said. The study further compared broadband and dial-up users within the same age groups to avoid the usual generational variable and found similar results.

Pew also found that there are 29m so-called high-powered broadband users - early broadband adopters who use the internet frequently - in the US. Of those consumers, an overwhelming 71 per cent use the internet as a primary daily news source. This is significant because early adopters of technology, according to the Pew report, can be good indicators of future behaviour in the general population."

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project (PDF to download) and news.com through the EJC newsletter .

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