'Readers won't pay for newspapers online'

Plenty of consumers are still willing to pay for the print edition of a daily paper but there's not a large constituency willing to convert to paying for content online, according to an Adweek-Media/Harris Poll conducted in the US last month. Adweek's Mark Dolliver writes: "The problem is not that people have stopped reading newspapers. Forty-three percent of respondents said they read a newspaper (whether in print or online) almost every day, with another 17 percent saying they do so a few times a week and 12 percent once a week. Just 10 percent said they never read the paper.

"However, another part of the polling indicates that the newspaper-reading habit won't easily carry over to a habit of paying for content online. Respondents were asked how much, if anything, they'd be willing to pay per month to read a daily newspaper's content online. Seventy-seven percent said they'd be willing to pay "nothing." Nineteen percent said they'd shell out $1 to $10, and 4 percent said they'd pay $11 to $20. One percent said they'd be willing to pay more than $20 per month for this privilege."
He concludes: "There's a double whammy here for newspapers. Young adults have come of age with the Internet, but are the least interested in newspaper content (and most accustomed to free online fare); old adults are keen on newspapers, but are the least comfortable doing things online. Thus, the numbers of respondents willing to pay $11 or more per month to read newspaper content online are in single digits in all age groups, reaching a none-too-lofty peak of 6 percent among the 55-plusers.
"The 35-44-year-olds were the most likely to say they'd pay $1-10 per month for online newspaper content, at 24 percent, vs. 18 percent of the 18-34s and 17 percent of both the 45-54 and 55-plus cohorts."
Via E&P in Exile