Change is a mantra at various media properties today and the changes with news and how and where it is delivered and consumed leave opportunity if you read the Center For Media Research brief called "News Right Now Drives Newspaper Readers To Web"...
"
News Usage (% of Respondents, 2009) |
| First Thing in Your Day | News Now |
| Total | Power News Users | Regular News Users | Total | Power News Users | Regular News Users |
TV/Cable | 30% | 31% | 28% | 30% | 29% | 31% |
Newspapers | 19 | 31 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Radio | 15 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL News | 19 | 20 | 18 | 31 | 30 | 31 |
Other online sites | 7 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 19 | 17 |
Source: Outsell's News User Survey 2009 |
Outsell's survey made the following 7 observations....
1. The Internet Is Now the Go-To News Briefing Source
When we want to know what's happening, a majority turn to the internet first. Power News Users (those that access news more than once a day in any form) lead the way, as digital news takes the leadership position throughout the day and even makes significant inroads in the news first thing in our busy days.
2. Newspaper Daily Usage Continues To Slip
Readers report a 10 point drop in usage of the newspaper in just three years, and continuing plans to trim their newspaper habits.
3. Paid Online Content Is No Panacea for the Industry
The target group for paid digital news appears to be no larger than 10%, according to respondents. If a local site put up a pay wall, three of four readers say they'd go elsewhere and to find "free" news.
4. Online Reading Habits Are Gelling, With Aggregators, Niche Sites, and Newspaper Sites Retaining Their Places
News-search aggregators are the big winners as habits gel, doubling their share in three years, as readers move to comfort with digital reading. This movement benefits news-search aggregator sites, online newspaper sites, and other niche sites, though unevenly, with readers turning increasingly to online newspaper sites for local news, but going direct to national sites of all kinds to serve their wide interests.
5. Google and News Media: The Emerging Ping-Pong Relationship
A majority of Power News Users note that they use Google to regularly scan headlines and summaries, without going to newspaper sites. In addition, news readers report ping-ponging back and forth between Google and news sites, hooked on Google's search allure.
6. The Habits of Power News Users, Half the Population, Are Worth Studying
Power News Users have significantly cut back their legacy reading, viewing, and listening, with newspapers, TV, and radio impacted. Their digital usage remains apace. Their usage of smartphones and news video, and willingness to comment on stories, is a harbinger of mainstream use to come.
7. Key Areas Where Newspapers Retain Strength, and Where They Don't
Local topics, news, family events, and entertainment, remain the domain of local companies. National topics are going both profoundly digital and national.
And a summary of some of the findings in the study includes the following:
When readers want the briefing on the news, they turn in great numbers to online sites, reducing their use of traditional news sources, TV, newspapers, and radio. When news users wanted to know what was happening before they dashed off to work, they used to either switch on the TV or radio or fetch the paper at the door, and give a quick read. Now each of those behaviors has been reduced, and significantly so, in three years.
Open-web aggregators now claim 19% of first-thing-in-the-day use, up from just 10% three years ago and now moving into a virtual tie with newspapers for second position, with TV's lead shrinking. Business, sports and political sites have markedly gained audience, moving from 4% to 7%, while online newspapers show good growth as well, from 3% to 6%
TV (dropping from 36% to 30% over three years), newspapers (dropping from 23% to 19%), and radio (dropping 20% to 15%) have all suffered losses since the 2006 data.
Examining users' habits for accessing news "first thing in the day," the profile of use by Power News Users is fairly similar to that of the non-Power segment, a group we'll call Regular News Users. Power News Users do, though, show greater use of aggregators, and lesser usage of newspapers."
My advice, gear up and put a News Portal into place as a portion of your profit center, partner with local news providers to keep your costs as low as possible, but be "THE" place to go for local news, sports and weather plus have access to the national and world stories that will also keep your audience coming back.