Meet the web's 'power users'

'Like
their print counterparts, online newspapers deliver the content their readers want, and, by extension, the quality audience that advertisers
seek.'

Meet the web's
'power users'

The elite that reads online versions of papers

By Marty Beard

   The old thinking about readers of online newspapers is that they're cheapskates because they log on to the internet to read news for free instead of paying for a subscription.
   That's not necessarily the case, according to a recent study conducted on behalf of the Newspaper Association of America.
   Rather than being cheapskates, it turns out that regular readers of online newspapers are big spenders of sorts, spending more money and time online than people who don't read internet newspapers.
   This makes them an attractive audience worth going after for newspapers.
   "Rather than becoming the replacement for its print version, as so many predicted it would be, the internet has afforded newspapers a unique opportunity to leverage the news and information--and the interested audience--into a new medium," says John F. Sturm, the NAA's president and CEO.
   The NAA describes internet newspaper readers as "power users" because of their tendency to spend more time and money online.
   Sixty-four percent of online newspaper readers have been online for more than four years, compared to 41 percent of internet users at large.
   Additionally, more online newspaper readers than non-readers have high-speed internet connections, whether at home or in the office.
   Thirty-seven percent of online newspaper readers have high-speed connections, versus 25 percent of all net users.
   In the workplace, 49 percent of web newspaper readers have high-speed access, compared to 17 percent of non-readers.
   The study also notes that readers of online newspapers have attained higher levels of education and income than have non-readers.
   A quarter of online newspaper readers earn more than $100,000, compared to 17 percent of general internet users.
   Fifty-one percent of internet newspaper readers hold at least a bachelor's degree, a distinction claimed by 42 percent of all internet users.
   In terms of their spending habits, online newspaper readers win again.
   Close to 80 percent of them have bought goods via the internet sometime in the past six months, while just half of general internet users have done so. Also, half of online newspaper readers have spent more than $500 on the internet in the past six months.
   Another finding is that online newspaper consumers are avid readers indeed.
   Sixty-one percent of them report turning to the internet on a daily basis for national and global news, compared to a paltry 21 percent of general internet users.
   Fifty-four percent of online newspaper readers look to the web daily for local news, compared to 13 percent of general readers. Twenty-four percent log on every day for sports news, compared to 9 percent of general web users.
   The internet does not appear to be stealing away print subscribers, according to the study.
   Three-quarters of online newspaper readers say they've read a print newspaper during the past week. Among all adults, 74.5 percent have picked up the paper in the last week.
    Print newspapers remain internet users' primary source of local advertising. Twenty-eight percent of online newspaper readers prefer print newspapers for local advertising, compared to 48 percent of general internet users.
   While they do prefer newspapers' print editions for local ads, online newspaper readers would take online newspapers as a source of local advertising over television, radio or even the Yellow Pages.
    "Like their print counterparts, online newspapers deliver the content their readers want, and, by extension, the quality audience that advertisers seek," the NAA's Sturm says.

-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.

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