A new study from comScore finds that non-newspaper readers are likely to be younger, and they are actually heavier than average online newsreaders, while heavy newspaper readers are more likely than average to read traditional print news brands online.

“That current generations are growing up getting their news online for free is an indicator that print circulations are likely to continue their decline,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore.

“But the Internet represents a significant opportunity to extend - and even improve upon - existing news brands and reach out to new consumers with living, breathing real-time content. Just because print circulations are declining does not mean there are fewer news consumers. In fact, just the opposite is true.”

Heavy print newspaper readers show a strong skew towards older age segments, while the non-newspaper reader segments skew younger. Thos who are 65 and older are 3 times more likely than average to read print editions of newspapers 6 times per week, while those between the ages of 18 to 24 are 38 percent more likely to not read print newspaper at all during an average week.

To better understand the news consumption habits of heavy, light and non-print newspaper reader segments, comScore looked at their tendency to visit several key news source online, using a selection of key print, TV and Internet news brands.

Based on their heavier than average visitation across most key news sites, those who do not read print versions of news papers are not necessarily light news consumers. In fact, they show a high tendency to visit the majority of sites, including print (e.g. LA Times), TV (e.g. FoxNews.com), and Internet (e.g. Topix.com) brands.

Both heavy print newspaper readers and the non-readers show similar heavy consumption of print news brands online, which indicates that print news sites are not just an extension of their offline brands but have a stand-alone brand presence online. For example, the Web sites for three of the largest U.S. city newspapers- the New York Times, LA Times and Chicago tribune show above average visitation from both heavy newspaper readers and non-readers.

TV news brands are also heavily visited by non-print readers. Non-readers were 29 percent more likely than the average Internet user to visit FoxNews.com and 15 percent more liely to visit CBS News Digital.

“Non-newspaper readers are a particularly important segment to reach because they are heavier than average news consumers - they just prefer to consume it in a digital format,” continued Flanagan.

“That they are receptive to print, TV, and Internet news brands indicates a broad opportunity online, but the brands that will ultimately win over these key news consumers are the ones that successfully integrate cutting edge digital content with high quality journalism.”

Segments were defined based on the number of days respondents said they read a print version of a newspaper in an average week, excluding the Sunday edition.

Heavy Newspaper Readers: 6 times per week
Medium Newspaper Readers: 3-5 times per week
Light Newspaper Readers: 1-2 times per week
Non Newspaper Readers: 0 times per week

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