TREND TRUTH
Print Media Declines, but is it Dead?
Online content is gaining ground, aided by the release of e-readers like the iPad, and it has hurt some print publications; but others are going strong, and three-quarters of consumers say they don’t want print media to disappear entirely.
Most media leaders concur that print media is floundering. Trends in technology, communication and markets reflect that fact (Steve Jobs just ushered in the next wave of online content readers with Apple’s iPad). An entire genre of journalism seems to have emerged just to cover the decline, not only in print but online. According to the New York Times, sixty-two percent of journalists think the Internet has forever altered their profession’s principles, eroding the standards of good journalism and the relevance of print publications alike. Still, new data from FGI Research indicates that print may yet have an audience. While 67% of consumers surveyed say they see a decline in the use of print versus other types of media to stay informed, 74% say they “would not prefer that online publications eventually replace print publications completely.”
Subscriptions to and circulation of print media first began to drop in the 1920’s, when print started competing with radio for audience. The rise of television put a bigger dent in newspaper market share and ad revenue. But high-speed Internet has by far been the biggest threat to traditional print media, since online publishers offer content in a variety of formats that are not only easy to access but, for the most part, free. FGI Research asked consumers to tell us where they get their information, what they think about the decline of print media and whether they would be willing to pay for online subscriptions.
Rupert Murdoch comments on the rapid change in communication technologies.
Where News Comes From
Notwithstanding the rash of stories about how online sources threaten print, FGI’s data show that 1 in 3 (33%) consumers still use print publications “most often” to stay in-the-know, compared to 28% who use online content most often. 39% use both equally often.
“Which of the following sources do you rely on for information?”
Meanwhile, two thirds (69%) of respondents say they “use online publications to supplement print publications,” while 20% say they rely solely on online sources for information. 11% say they never use online sources. These results indicate that, while consumers may turn to online content for some information, they have not abandoned print altogether. Indeed, some do not even use online sources. It follows that traditional media still has a market. In fact, a little over half of consumers (52%) said they purchased print sources from newsstands and stores, compared to 48% who did not.
Consumers Still Read Some Print
This begs the question: what kinds of print media do readers use? In terms of subscribers, local newspapers and national magazines are the most popular, with 52% of consumers saying they subscribe to local newspapers and 46% saying they subscribe to at least one national magazine. Some print sources clearly are not experiencing the same losses as others. However, other print sources are in big trouble.
“What kinds of print media do you subscribe to and pay for?”
National Newspapers, Local Magazines Lag
According to the graph above, only 10% of consumers surveyed subscribe to a national newspaper. 11% say they subscribe to at least one local magazine. Meanwhile, 29% say they neither subscribe to nor pay for any kind of print media, though that does not guarantee that those consumers use online sources instead (they may simply not look at the news at all). Even so, the data suggests that some print sources have been hit harder than others.
Online Subscription Fees Not the Solution
Most readers use both online and print sources for information. Two thirds use online content to supplement print. This is partly the reason why print newspapers are worried about declining readership. Consumer opinion suggests they are becoming less relevant –and that they do not provide everything consumers want to read. Declining ad revenues and profits exacerbate newspapers’ anxiety.
At the same time, subscription fees are not attractive to media consumers. National newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, whose print readership has declined, but whose online content is king, have considered charging an online subscriber fee to stay afloat. But FGI Research’s data show they would have some convincing to do: 70% of consumers say they are unwilling to pay a fee for online content. Indeed, part of the attraction of online content –at least until now –has been the fact that it costs nothing.
The Search for the Perfect Subscriber Fee
Even if they had to pay to read, the vast majority of consumers (87%) say they “should be charged less than what [they] pay for print publications,” because of perceived lower production costs. Since “publishers aren’t spending money on paper/printing,” readers believe they should not have to pay a price reflective of those costs. Only 10% think they should pay “as much as” they pay for print subscriptions because they consider the services “comparable.” The remaining 3% think they should pay “more than what [they] pay for print publications” because of the wider array of information available. For the most part, consumers are opposed to the idea of paying for online content. This puts today’s print media in a bind. How can they satisfy all of their readers while generating enough revenue to turn a profit and satisfy shareholders?
Actionable Insights
Declines in subscription, circulation and other performance measures have given today’s print media plenty of reasons to worry. However, FGI Research’s study indicates that they may still have an audience. As for how to respond to readers who have migrated online, while consumers may balk at the idea of a subscriber fee, some may sign on at the right price (less than what they pay for print). Overall, this data gives the print media industry some hope for the future –if they act now. How should publishers respond?
- Conduct research to find out what demographics use which sources, and organize content accordingly. Target your content and publications for the right audiences.
- Using qualitative as well as quantitative data, find out the ideal price of an online subscriber fee. Begin testing now.
- Use qualitative data to find out what draws readers to one publication over another, and respond to those data to maximize readership no matter where you publish. Use qualitative data to fuel future quantitative studies.
Next Steps You Can Take
- Learn more about the results of this study: complimentary access to the data in this report, including cross-tabulated results, is available upon request from FGI Research.
- Contact FGI Research: click here or call us at (919) 929-7759.
- Explore FGI Research’s market research solutions, including custom panels, full service research, and our online sample (SmartPanel).
- Join FGI Research’s online panel to participate in future studies.
Survey Methods
Respondents: 300
Date of Survey: April 7th-14th, 2010
Sample Source: FGI SmartPanel
This nationally-representative sample consists of adults aged 18 and up and is balanced to the US population using recent census data. One can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.
May 18th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
I think what is needed, and what will enventually happen, is a business model similar to cable tv. The thought process here is that the magazines and newspapers have worthy content, but we are already baing high prices for internet. The papers will negotiate with comcast, qwest, cox, etc to carry their content. They will get guaranteed revenue similar to what ESPN would get from Time Warner.
May 19th, 2010 at 8:45 am
There are clearly unfilled niches in the modern media market. Every time a news source genuinely tries something new, they seem to be successful at it, especially when they decide that they’re not going to underestimate the intelligence of their viewership.
What we’ve seen in the last decade is a race to the bottom in terms of quality. Instead of investigative journalism, we’re presented with anonymous sources dispensing useless political gossip. Instead of information on an actual proposal, like the health care bill, for example, we’re presented with nothing but stories about the process, where one side is calling the other names and there is no discussion of whether or not either side has a point.
I’d be willing to pay quite a bit more for actual coverage of issues, rather than the cheap gossip rags that we get now.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:11 am
There is no doubt that what Brian says is true regarding the quality of the information dropping. Reporters have become lazy, treating other reporters as “experts”, and looking for a sensational tidbit in order to spice up the 30 second story. Throw in a healthy dose of corporate bias, ideological bias, and a 24 hour news cycle and its a recipe for garbage. I think the days of one stop shopping for information are over. It’s time for information channels to arise on the internet that are very specific in focus, and yet deep in research. I’d go to a “Science News” site to get good stories about science developments, and I’d hope that the site would provide information that can be accessed at various levels….from interested reader to expert in the field.
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Print media will pretty much do like all media types before now that are getting phased out. I believe the generation that is most comfortable with a media type will probably stick with that type. Just like the older generation that continued listening to baseball games when they were being televised or still calling customer service or actually mailing letters/checks. They continue to do what’s comfortable to them until it is completely phased out. I know lots of people (mostly older than me) who would rather read the paper about yesterday’s news as opposed to watching tv for today’s news!