Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Grab News on the Go? Sure. Pay? Nope.

Nearly half of all adult Americans use their mobile devices to get local news and information, but only 1 percent of grown-ups pay for the privilege, according to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

According to Ian Paul pcworld.com, the recent survey of 2251 American adults also found only 11 percent of people access local news through a mobile app. Presumably, users opt to use the mobile Web and text alerts instead.

The Pew study calls this preference for app alternatives the "app gap." The study considers mobile devices to be both tablets such as the recently launched iPad 2 as well as cell phones.

The study -- done in conjunction with the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Knight Foundation -- finds that weather updates are the primary draw for local information for about 36 percent of all American adults (42 percent of mobile device owners).

Local restaurant and business information was the next most sought-after category, followed by general local news, sports scores, and traffic.

Despite the high interest in getting local information via mobile devices, not many people appear to be interested in paying for it with subscriptions or flat fees. Only 10 percent of adults using mobile apps to get local information pay for the privilege.

The Pew study says that means only 1 percent of people overall are paying for local news on mobile devices.

Read more here.

Read the Pew results here.

Also Must Read:

POYNTER:  The 3 things people want on their mobile devices and how you can provide them

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