Daily Newspaper Websites Grow by 6 Percent

According to The Media Audit's 2009 National Report, daily newspaper websites collectively reach 32.3% of U.S. consumers in a typical month, up from 30.3% in 2008.  The latest figure represents a 6.6% increase in unique monthly visitors over one year.  The same study reveals that 36.5% of U.S. consumers have visited a network TV station website in the past month, however the figure has remained unchanged since 2008.

Adults in Ann Arbor, Michigan are among the most frequent daily newspaper website visitors, according to the study. Nearly 56% have visited a daily newspaper website in the past month, a figure that is 73% higher when compared to the general population. Syracuse, New York ranks second, with 49.4% who visit a daily newspaper website in the typical month, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota (47.5%), Washington, D.C. (47.4%), and New Orleans, Louisiana (47.2%).

The latest figures were obtained from The Media Audit's 2009 National Report . Later next month, The Media Audit will make available preliminary data from the soon-to-be released 2010 National report, highlighting the net unduplicated reach of local daily newspaper audiences and their website visitors at the Newspaper Association of America's annual media Xchange conference in Dallas, Texas.

According to the same study, visitors to daily newspaper websites are well educated and earn above average household income. More than one in five newspaper website visitors have an advanced college degree, while 30.2% earn more than $100,000 in annual household income.

Rounding out the top ten markets for daily newspaper website visitors are Long Island, New York, where 44.6% of the population has visited a website in the past month, followed by Columbia-Jefferson City, Missouri (43.7%), Madison, Wisconsin (42.8%), Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York (41.8%), and San Antonio, Texas (41.6%).

Surveys were conducted in 80 U.S. cities