Online Newspaper Viewership Reaches Record In 2007

         The Newspaper Association of America issued the following news release:
Arlington, Va. - Average monthly unique audience figures for newspaper Web sites grew by more than 3.6 million in 2007, a record year for the industry and an increase of more than six percent over 2006 numbers. Monthly unique visitors to newspaper Web sites averaged 62.8 million in last year's fourth quarter, a record number in itself and the largest in any quarter since NAA began tracking online usage in January 2004. According to the data, which is part of a new report by Nielsen Online for NAA that takes into account home and work Internet usage, unique visitors in the fourth quarter represented a nine percent increase over the same period a year ago (57.6 million). 
         Heading into the holiday season, newspaper Web sites experienced a record in October 2007. More than 63.2 million people visited newspaper Web sites that month, more than any month on record. This figure represents an eight percent increase from the same period a year ago. 
         "Newspapers continue to successfully transform themselves into multimedia companies, offering unparalleled content that reaches an audience growing in both size and sophistication," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. "Newspapers' expanding print and digital portfolio offers value to advertisers by providing a targeted, comprehensive menu of choices for today's discriminating consumer. As our industry's transition accelerates, it is clear consumers recognize newspapers as their trusted source of information in an increasingly digital environment."
         For the year's fourth quarter, 39 percent of all active Web users visited newspaper Web sites, with visits averaging 44 minutes a month. Users generated more than three billion page impressions on average, a 7.3 percent increase over the same period a year ago. See data for previous quarters (http://www.naa.org/TrendsandNumbers/Newspaper-Websites.aspx). 
         The Nielsen Online newspaper total represents a de-duplicated visitor total taken from its combined home and work panel of Internet users (i.e. an individual who might read a national newspaper plus their local newspaper online is only counted once). The target sample (2 years or older) has access from a non-shared PC at work and/or access from home. The Nielsen Online monthly newspaper total represents the de-duplicated reach of a custom list of hundreds of sites collectively.