News Sites Attract Bigger Spenders

PRESS RELEASE

Newspaper Websites Are Successfully Attracting High-Spending Internet Users — From Travel Services to Online Banking, Newspaper Website Readers Are Active Online Consumers and Significant Spenders

The Scarborough analysis examined newspaper website readers of major papers in five local markets: Sacramento, CA (sacbee.com/sacramento.com readers), Houston, TX (Chron.com readers), Providence, RI (ProJo.com readers), Orlando, FL (OrlandoSentinel.com readers), and Kansas City, MO (KansasCity.com readers). In all of these markets, newspaper website readers are more likely than other Internet users to be spending upwards of $1,000 online annually. In fact, newspaper website readers are more likely than average Internet users in their local markets to have made a purchase in leading e-shopping categories measured by Scarborough, including airline tickets and other travel reservations, books and clothing.

For example, sacbee.com/sacramento.com readers are 11 percent more likely than all Internet users in Sacramento to have purchased airline tickets online during the past year. They are 26 percent more likely to have purchased books online and 10 percent more likely to have purchased music online. Across the country, in Providence, RI, ProJo.com readers are 29 percent more likely than all Providence Internet users to have purchased airline tickets online during the past year, 13 percent more likely to have purchased books online and 29 percent more likely to have purchased clothing or accessories online.

“When you combine this robust online buying activity with the fact that newspaper website audiences are large and growing, it is very clear that newspapers provide audiences that advertisers need to reach, in print and online,” said Gary Meo, senior vice president, print and Internet services, Scarborough Research. “Through newspapers and their websites, advertisers in a variety of categories — from travel to retail, banking to electronics — have ready access to consumers that have cash and want to spend it.”

In the financial category, newspaper website readers examined in the analysis are typically more likely to use Internet banking services than average Internet users in their market. OrlandoSentinel.com readers are 11 percent more likely than total Internet users to use online banking in their household and 22 percent more likely to use online bill paying in their household. The same holds true in Kansas City, where KansasCity.com readers are 29 percent more likely than all Kansas City Internet users to use online banking and 37 percent more likely to use online bill paying.

Combining newspaper website readers’ offline and online behaviors in top categories takes the story even further. In Houston, where Chron.com readers are 34 percent more likely than all Internet users in the market to purchase travel reservations online, these adults are also 24 percent more likely than the average Internet user in Houston to have traveled to the Caribbean during the past three years, and 16 percent more likely to have visited Europe.

OrlandoSentinel.com readers are not only using online financial services. They are also 34 percent more likely than other Internet users in the market to have a 401-k plan, nine percent more likely to have an auto loan, and 13 percent more likely to have a home mortgage.

“In any marketing effort, localism is critical,” said Mr. Meo. “With Scarborough’s local-market newspaper website audience information, advertisers can better understand the characteristics of the audience and improve the ROI of their campaigns.”

Newspaper website readers are generally among the most avid Internet users in a local market. They are more likely than the average Internet user to spend 20 hours or more online in the average week and more likely to have broadband internet connections at home.

This analysis follows Scarborough’s Integrated Newspaper Audience white paper released in August . The white paper found that newspapers are successfully growing their audiences online especially among the young and affluent. This new analysis looks more closely at the internet behaviors of the newspaper web site audience and finds that visitors to newspaper websites are buying online in a wide variety of categories — and to a greater degree than the average online user.

The local markets selected for this press release provide an illustration of newspaper website reader consumption patterns in different regions of the U.S. This information is available for newspapers in all of the 80 local markets measured by Scarborough Research.

The data in this report is from the following local market studies: Houston, TX Release 2 2006; Kansas City, MO Release 2 2006; Orlando, FL Release 2 2006; Providence, RI Release 1 2006; Sacramento, CA Release 2 2006. The newspaper websites analyzed are: Sacramento Bee (Sacramento.com and sacbee.com); The Providence Journal (ProJo.com); Orlando Sentinel (OrlandoSentinel.com); Kansas City Star (KansasCity.com); and Houston Chronicle (Chron.com).

* Newspaper Website Audiences: Adults age 18+ in a newspaper’s local market who have visited that newspaper’s website during the past seven days.

** Internet users: Adults age 18+ who accessed the Internet during the past 30 days.