Report: “49% of Subscribers Didn’t Go to the Websites They Had Paid For Even Once a Month”

From the Medill School of Journalism/Northwestern University:

Nearly half of local news outlets’ digital subscribers are “zombie” readers who visit the website less than once a month, according to a data analysis in 45 markets by Northwestern University’s Medill Spiegel Research Center.

Spiegel found that 49% of subscribers didn’t go to the websites they had paid for even once a month, putting them in a category known in news-industry slang as “zombies.” Concern is growing about this problem because even though the living dead may still pay for local news, they seem like a weak foundation to build a future on.

Spiegel’s analysis found that while 49% of digital subscribers didn’t visit even once a month, 54% visited the website just one day a month or fewer, 58% visited two days or fewer, 69% visited seven days or fewer, and 79% showed up 15 days or fewer.

Read the Complete Report, View Charts (approx. 1080 words)

Filed under: Data Files, News