Join Forces with Top Brands at Portada Live, NYC, Sept, 19, 2024!

Research: Tablets drive 7% of Newspapers online Traffic

Tablet media may turn out to be a big help for newspapers and magazines as there are more opportunities to monetize access to them. A recent comScore study shows that “in the case of online newspapers, tablets are now driving 7 percent of total page views, an impressive figure considering the relative infancy of the tablet space,” says Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile.

Content

Tablet media may turn out to be a big help for newspapers and magazines as there are more opportunities to monetize access to them. A recent comScore study shows that “in the case of online newspapers, tablets are now driving 7 percent of total page views, an impressive figure considering the relative infancy of the tablet space,” says Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile. Donovan adds that “Publishers that understand how these devices are shifting consumption dynamics will be best positioned to leverage this platform to not only drive incremental engagement among current subscribers but also attract new readers.”

The study found that nearly 2 in 5 U.S. tablet owners read newspapers and/or magazines on their device in August, with 1 in 10 reading publications almost daily. Analysis of readership activities across platforms revealed that Kindle Fire users displayed the strongest propensity for reading newspapers and magazines on their device.

In the three-month average period ending August 2012, 37.1 percent of tablet owners read a newspaper on their device at least once during the month, with 11.5 percent of tablet owners reading newspapers almost every day. Kindle Fire users demonstrated the greatest tendency to read newspapers, with 39.2 percent doing so in August, slightly edging out iPad at 38.3 percent. NOOK Tablet owners boasted the greatest percentage of high-frequency newspaper readers with 13.4 percent doing so on a near daily basis.

Magazines/periodicals showed even higher readership rates than newspapers with 39.6 percent of tablet owners reading magazines on their device during the month. Kindle Fire owners once again showed the highest readership rate at 43.9 percent, followed by iPad users at 40.3 percent.

Newspaper and Magazine Readership Analysis Across Tablets*

3 month avg. ending Aug. 2012

Total U.S. Tablet Owners, Age 13+

Source: comScore TabLens

 

% Share of Total Audience

Total Tablet

iPad

Android Tablet**

Kindle Fire

NOOK Tablet

Total Tablet Audience:

 13+ yrs old

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

Read newspapers

 

 

 

 

 

 Almost every day

11.5%

12.0%

12.1%

12.8%

13.4%

 At least once each week

11.0%

12.2%

10.1%

12.3%

8.3%

 Once to three times throughout the month

14.6%

14.2%

14.6%

14.1%

10.1%

 Ever in month

37.1%

38.3%

36.8%

39.2%

31.8%

Read magazines or periodicals

 

 

 

 

 

 Almost every day

9.7%

9.4%

10.4%

11.3%

9.4%

 At least once each week

13.3%

13.8%

12.7%

16.0%

15.0%

 Once to three times throughout the month

16.7%

17.1%

15.5%

16.6%

15.0%

 Ever in month

39.6%

40.3%

38.5%

43.9%

39.4%

*comScore defines a media tablet as a touch screen tablet device with a slate form factor, a 7 inch or greater screen size and a data connection, but no voice plan. Single purpose eBook reader devices are excluded from this definition.

**For this analysis, Kindle Fire and NOOK Tablet were excluded from the Android tablet total.

On-Device Readership Driven by Consumers Age 25-44

Analysis into readership demographics revealed that newspaper and magazine tablet audiences closely resembled one another in gender, age and household income distribution. Across both newspapers and magazines, readers were significantly more likely to be male. Newspaper audiences were 17 percent more likely to be male compared to an average tablet owner (index of 117), while magazine audiences were 11 percent more likely to be male (index of 111).

People between the ages of 25-34 represented the highest share of readers, accounting for 27.4 percent of newspaper consumers and 28.2 percent of magazine/periodical consumers, while people age 35-44 accounted for 1 in 5 readers in both categories. More than half of readers had a household income of $75k or greater, while those in the highest income segment of $100k or greater skewed most heavily toward readership.

Demographic Analysis: Newspaper and Magazine Readership on Tablets*

3 month avg. ending Aug. 2012

Total U.S. Tablet Owners, Age 13+

Source: comScore TabLens

 

Read newspaper

Read magazines or periodicals

% of Audience

Composition Index of Audience**

% of Audience

Composition Index of Audience**

Total Audience:

13+ yrs old

100.0%

100

100.0%

100

Gender:

 

 

 

 

 Male

57.5%

117

54.6%

111

 Female

42.5%

83

45.4%

89

Age:

 

 

 

 

 13-17

4.0%

66

5.3%

87

 18-24

14.1%

98

15.3%

106

 25-34

27.4%

123

28.2%

127

 35-44

20.1%

103

21.1%

108

 45-54

18.4%

99

17.5%

94

 55-64

9.5%

90

7.4%

70

 65+

6.5%

75

5.3%

61

Household Income:

 

 

 

 

 <$25k

7.5%

83

7.8%

87

 $25k to <$50k

16.7%

95

17.5%

99

 $50k to <$75k

19.8%

100

19.4%

98

 $75k to <$100k

16.7%

98

16.6%

97

 $100k+

39.3%

108

38.7%

107

*comScore defines a media tablet as a touch screen tablet device with a slate form factor, a 7 inch or greater screen size and a data connection, but no voice plan. Single purpose eBook reader devices are excluded from this definition.

**Index = % of Audience Segment/% of Total Tablet Audience x 100; Index of 100 indicates average representation 

Meet & Learn
Portada Live Events

Popular Now

Boost Your Sales

Who is Moving Now

The Latest

Get our e-letters packed with news and intelligence!