16
June
2010
|
02:05 AM
America/Los_Angeles

ComScore: NYTimes 31% More Readers Of Nearest Online Newspaper

ComScore's latest report on audience for online newspapers shows:

- More than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience.

- New York Times has a huge lead with more than 32 million visitors and 719 million pages.

- Tribune Newspapers ranked second in terms of audience with 24.8 million visitors.

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Top Newspaper Groups

May 2010

Total U.S. - Home & Work Locations

Source: comScore Media Metrix

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Total Unique Total Pages Average Pages

Visitors Viewed per Visitor

(000) (MM)

Total Internet : Total Audience 215,691 592,519 2,747

Newspapers 123,897 5,339 43

The New York Times Brand 32,530 719 22

Tribune Newspapers 24,753 359 14

Advance Internet 18,053 326 18

USA Today Sites 16,771 154 9

WashingtonPost.com 16,677 178 11

McClatchy Corporation 13,987 216 15

MediaNews Group 13,362 141 11

NYDailyNews.com 12,502 122 10

Hearst Newspapers 12,017 195 16

Wall Street Journal Online 11,325 115 10

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Foremski's Take: These results show high demand for news but the frustration for newspaper companies is that high reader numbers don't translate into revenues that can support their business of news gathering. This is the paradox of the newspaper business because high readership used to translate into higher revenues.

Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president, said:

"The issue is not attracting the eyeballs, but rather demonstrating the true value of those eyeballs to advertisers. As advertising rates for digital move closer into line with those of traditional media, the economics of the news business should begin to look a lot more promising."

However, advertising rates as a whole are not moving "closer into line with those of traditional media." Advertising rates are falling, they are moving more into line with the least expensive online rates. That's the key problem for newspapers because as they transition to a digital business model the advertising rates are falling. You can't get there from here.

Although comScore has found that viewers respond better to display advertising on a newspaper site, convincing enough advertisers to pay more is difficult.

More information here: The New York Times Ranks as Top Online Newspaper According to May 2010 U.S. comScore Media Metrix Data - comScore, Inc