A comScore report confirms what most publishers have come to know about their readership demographics - the young are less likely to read news items in print, especially when compared to those who are older. However, what the comScore report does in addition to forming up the obvious is analyze the types of sites that online news readers are accessing and it paints a solid picture for newspaper publishers, with a well designed Website.

“That current generations are growing up getting their news online for free is an indicator that print circulations are likely to continue their decline,” said Jack Flanagan, comScore EVP. “But the internet represents a significant opportunity to extend - and even improve upon - existing news brands and reach out to new consumers with living, breathing real-time content.”

When studying news consumption habits of heavy, medium, light and non-print readers, comScore looked at their propensity to visit top brand news sources online, including print publisher Websites.

When analyzing the above, publishers should feel motivated to either implement or ensure usability of their Websites as this table indicates Websites with news content have the ability to standalone as a separate brand. This opens up many possibilities when looking at the value of online and pricing it appropriately. Including stats, such as these from comScore, in media kits should lessen the strain publishers have in pricing online to recoup some of the losses seen on the print side of their business.

“Non-newspaper readers are a particularly important segment to reach because they are heavier-than-average news consumers - they just prefer to consume it in a digital format,” said Flanagan. “That they are receptive to print, TV, and Internet news brands indicate a broad opportunity online, but the brands that will ultimately win over these key news consumers are the ones that successfully integrate cutting edge digital content with high-quality journalism.”

written by Beverly Crandon \\ tags: comScore, newspaper demographics, newspaper readership, online news readership