Newspapers Reach 8 of 10 Adults

By: Jennifer Saba Newspapers are reaching nearly eight out of 10 adults (about 78%) in the top 50 markets over the course of a week, according to the spring 2004 Competitive Media Index from the Newspaper Association of America.

But the people reading newspapers every weekday has declined. For spring 2004, the report said that 53.4% adults read a paper every weekday compared with 54.1% in the fall of 2003. Readership penetration dipped slightly for Sundays too; 62% of adults for the spring versus 62.5% for the fall.

"The good news is that each week newspapers in the top 50 markets reach 79% of adults, and more than half of adults on a daily basis," said John Sturm, NAA president and CEO, in a statement. "We are beginning to see progress well beyond what may be expected. Newspapers of all sizes are incorporating innovative approaches to increase readership and they're beginning to pay off. At this time, the industry has gone from understanding readership to doing something about it."

Newspaper Web sites have also seen audience growth. Newspapers reporting for March 2003 and March 2004 showed a 21% increase in unique viewers, according to Nielsen//NetRatings data analyzed by CSFB Media Research.

The CMI is an NAA analysis of market data from Scarborough Research covering the period from August 2002 to September 2003.

Here are the top 10 newspaper markets for adult readership.

Daily
Hartford/New Haven, Conn. (63.7%)
Pittsburgh (63.6%)
New York (62.9%)
Boston (62.6%)
Cleveland (62.6%)
West Palm Beach, Fla. (61.2%)
Providence, R.I./New Bedford, Mass. (61%)
Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota, Fla. (61%)
Buffalo, N.Y. (60.5%)
New Orleans (59.9%)
Philadelphia (59.7%)
Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York, Pa. (59.5%)

Sunday
Cleveland (75.4%)
Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota, Fla. (73.9%)
West Palm Beach, Fla. (72.1%)
Hartford/New Haven, Conn. (72.1%)
Pittsburgh (71.9%)
Buffalo, N.Y. (71.6%)
Providence, R.I./New Bedford, Mass. (71.4%)
Philadelphia (69.5%)
Milwaukee, Wis. (67.9%)
Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport, Va. (67.9%)
New Orleans (67.3%)
Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York, Pa. (66.6%)