“While our data does show that print newspaper readership is slowly declining, it also illustrates
that reports about the pending death of the newspaper industry are greatly exaggerated,” said
Gary Meo, Scarborough’s Senior Vice President of Print and Digital Media Services. “Given the
fragmentation of media choices, printed newspapers are holding onto their audiences relatively
well.”

According to the demographic data in the study, newspapers continue attract educated, affluent readers.
In an average week:

• 79% of white collar employed adults read a printed newspaper
• 82% of adults with household incomes of $100,000 or more read a printed newspaper
• 84% of adults who are college graduates or more read a printed newspaper

Washingtonpost.com was the leading newspaper website, with 24 percent of adults in the local market visiting the newspaper’s web site in the past week. 

Weekly Print Audience 

 * Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers include Appleton Post-Crescent, Fond du Lac Reporter, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Manitowoc Herald Times Repoter, Oshkosh Northwestern

Weekly Website Audience 

Integrated Newspaper Audience

Read the full press release.

“The effects of the global financial crisis have certainly caught up with the ad sector in this latest quarter, especially in North America and Europe where virtually all of the territories we reported on recorded negative growth,” said Ben van der Werf, managing director, Global AdView at Nielsen.  “Even China, which usually sees a boost in ad spend during the Chinese New Year, posted subdued growth for the quarter.”

All four major media types – newspapers, magazines, TV and radio – posted drops in ad spending, with print media leading the decline.  Magazines fared the worst (-17.4%) followed by newspapers (-9.1%).   In North America, magazine ad spend was down 22.2 percent, while newspapers were off 15.6 percent.

Not surprisingly, the automotive category recorded the largest loss in ad spend – down 19.9 percent – followed by financial services (-16.7%) and clothing (-15.7%).

Read the full Global Ad Spend press release.

Main media, defined by Nielsen as free to air TV, newspapers and magazines, increased 13 percent in 2008, while all other media (radio, outdoor, pay TV, cinema and other) posted an 8 percent increase for the year.

In 2008, three markets recorded declines in ad spend versus 2007, while another posted no growth:

• Taiwan (-11%)
• South Korea (-8%)
• Thailand (-4%)
• New Zealand (0%)

Meanwhile, five countries showed solid double-digit growth:

• India (29%)
• Indonesia (19%)
• China (17%)
• Malaysia (12%)
• Philippines (11%)

Other key findings from Nielsen’s research:

• A total of US$115.2 billion was spent on advertising in the twelve markets monitored.
• A total of US$108.4 billion was spent on “Main Media” advertising, with television comprising 70 percent of expenditures.
• Television ad spend grew 15 percent. Only three countries recorded declines in TV ad spend, while five countries posted solid double-digit growth in this category.
• Although Americans are being deluged with stories of newspapers closing, cutting back and filing for bankruptcy, the medium recorded 9 percent growth, with declines in four countries.
• Magazine ad spends, while still comparatively small, increased 10 percent, with India leading the way.
• Radio dominated “all other media” with a 47 percent share of spend and a 12 percent increase for the year.

Over the next few days, Nielsen Wire will dig deeper into the numbers for Australia and New Zealand, East Asia, Southeast Asia and India.

Visit Editor & Publisher for the full list of the top 30 news sites and online newspaper sites.

“This data begs the question: is the constant negative news feed on the industry warranted when newspapers are actually being read by three-fourths of the adult population? When you look at audience data, it seems irrational that advertisers are leaving newspapers because the numbers speak for themselves,” said Gary Meo, senior vice president, print and digital media, Scarborough Research.

“The economic situation we’re in has had many casualties, banks, the housing market, free soda, the works. But one of the most notable has been newspapers. I’ve posted in the past on the fate of the Christian Science Monitor, and the Rocky Mountain News has now said its goodbye as well. I think it is safe to say that these are not the end of a trend; they are the first casualties of a much longer downward decline…

…I would like to invite all of the members of this community to post their ideas on the future of news, particularly as it is related to emerging media (i.e. not TV). I’d like to start by giving an example from the New York Times online. They have provided an interactive map taking a look at immigration patterns into the US over the past 120 years. What I think is impressive is that they have made this the centerpiece for ongoing online discussions among readers; they have journalists write pieces about the trends and they have op-ed writing columns. They are integrating all of the strengths a news source can provide: great data collection, objective reporting, opinion, and adding social media.”

Read the whole post to submit your thoughts on the future of news.

The NY Times’ website drew just over 20 million unique visitors in November — a 10% increase over unique traffic to the site last November.

Meanwhile, MSNBC saw 41.9% year over year growth, reaching 41.8 million unique visitors last month, according to Nielsen. 

MSNBC edged past CNN Digital Network (CNN), which drew 41.5 million unique visitors during the month — a 27% increase over its November 2007 unique audience.

Despite the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election, The Huffington Post (ranked #21) continued to see the fastest growth among the top 30 sites. The site’s unique audience increased 270% over November 2007 — to 7 million unique visitors.  However, Huffington’s unique audience declined from October 2008, when the site’s unique visitors grew by 448% year over year to 8.1 million.

Fox News Digital Network was the second fastest growing site among the top 30 — up 131% over November 2007.

Among the top 30 newspaper sites, the Minneapolis Star Tribune (ranked #12) saw the fastest growth.  The site’s unique audience increased 265% over November 2007 — to 3.5 million unique visitors. 

The Detroit News (ranked #25) was the second fastest growing site among the to 30 — up 232% over November 2007.

Overall, all but one of the top 30 online news outlets and all but four of the top 30 newspaper websites attracted larger online audiences in November 2008 than they did the prior November.

View the top 30 newspaper websites for November in Editor & Publisher.

View the top 30 online news outlets for November in Editor & Publisher.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings on MSNBC.com.

Take Atlanta, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco – five of 21 cities that are home to some of the nation’s most voracious media consumers.  According to a study of entertainment consumption in 65 major U.S. cities, released Monday by Nielsen PreView, residents of these cities love opening weekend movie-going, rock concerts, reality TV, and newspapers.

In contrast, residents of Bakersfield (California), El Paso, Flint/Saginaw/Bay City (Michigan), Memphis, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, and San Antonio have one-track entertainment minds: they flock to movie theaters for new releases, but eschew almost all other forms of entertainment, ranking lowest nationwide in newspaper and reality TV consumption, according to Nielsen. 

Chicagoans, Pittsburghers, Bostonians, and residents of Green Bay (Wisconsin) were similarly single-minded – about sports.  Never mind the movies, these cities love heading to the stadium for a game – or perhaps a rock concert, according to Nielsen.

Read Nielsen PreView’s complete report.

New York’s Daily News Online saw the largest percentage gain — its audience grew by 109% year-over-year to 3.8 million unique visitors in June.  Michigan-based MLive.com rose 80% to 1.5 million unique visitors, while sites owned by two New York City-based news outlets, Newsday and Village Voice Media, saw audience gains of 73% and 70%, respectively. 

The Houston Chronicle, which fell 44% in June, and Ottaway Newspapers (-30%) experienced the most significant declines.