Viewership figures compared to print circulation numbers by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America showed significant growth in the percentage of readers turning to the websites of papers rather than the dead-tree editions.
The information in the Newspaper Audience Database showed strength in numbers, Internet numbers to be precise. Through the first half of 2006, monthly visits to newspaper websites topped 55 million on average.
In the first half of 2005, that average was closer to 42 million per month.
People visit newspaper sites an average of eight times per month, spending 40 minutes viewing content on 46 pages during that time. While that may not seem significant, some newspapers have seen a decline in print circulation as online viewing increases.
It also indicates a desire by readers to control what they read. Forty-six pages of content out of a given month is not a large slice of the number of articles produced by major dailies like online viewership leader The New York Times on a monthly basis.
But with the readership heading online and picking and choosing what they want to read, the behaviors exhibited by readers becomes valuable to publishers. With the use of web analytics, publishers should be able to easily identify the heavily trafficked content.
Then their online advertising efforts can be focused on capitalizing on that interest. Targeted marketing initiatives could help replace the revenue lost by drops in print circulation.
The report noted some of the ways publishers have moved to build upon the readership movement to online news. In Wilmington, DE, the News-Journal broadcasts a twice-daily newscast; the closest TV stations to the market are in Philadelphia, and Wilmington does not have a local station to provide news.
In Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News runs YourHub.com, a site where people in Denver can create and share content based on local events. And the Arizona Republic in Phoenix brings in visitors with a user-submitted photo gallery, and a group blog featuring around 50 writers, newsmakers, and community leaders.
Those are just three examples of ways to embrace the online audience in a positive way and build new contact points to help offset declining print readership. It’s no place for the fearful or technophobic, especially with such a large percentage of those online visitors representing the younger demographic advertisers love.
—
Add to 
Bookmark Murdok: 
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
