US: Promising numbers for newspaper websites

Posted by Rory Satran on October 5, 2006 at 10:03 AM

A recent study revealed that the average number of monthly visits to American newspaper websites has risen 31% in the first half of 2006. Web sites are also attracting many younger readers, 15% more than last year among the 25-34 age group. The Newspaper Association of America study highlights the importance of Internet to an industry beset with woes.

55.5 million unique visitors perused newspaper websites in the first half of this year, compared to 42.4 million last year.

Younger readers are also visiting news sites more frequently. The Washington Post has attracted 60% more 25-34 year-olds than the previous year, compared to the 15% increase across the board. There has been a 10% increase among 18-24 year-olds.

These numbers are supplied by Nielson/NetRatings, which monitors Internet user activity. John Kimball, Nielson’s chief of marketing, said: "Newspaper Web sites have become a significant addition to the print product, and are driving large audience growth."

This postive growth comes at a time when print rates are declining steadily for almost every major newspaper.

Source: Reuters