A survey said that newspapers remain the top source for sports news for men.
I suppose I should ask this question: Is this a survey from 1965?
Amid all the calamitous news about newspapers and anything associated with them comes a recent survey by M/A/R/C for the Newspaper National Network.
Erik Sass for the Media Daily News reports:
Among male sports fans ages 18-54, 76% cited the sports section of their local newspaper Web site as one of their “go-to” sources for sports news, while 69% cited the print edition.
That compares with 66% for ESPN.com, 46% for league sites, 45% for Yahoo Sports.com, and 45% for ESPN Sports Center. Further down the list, 33% said sports talk radio and 23% said Sports Illustrated or SI.com.
The finds are from a survey by M/A/R/C for the Newspaper National Network. The poll of 716 men ages 18-54, including in-depth interviews with 404, found that this key audience demo prefers both print and online newspapers to any other source for sports content.
I’d like to believe the survey’s findings are valid. I’m a newspaper guy. I want them to thrive.
However, what about declining circulation figures? What about the fact that I never see a young person reading a newspaper?
The survey says it polled men in the 18-54 category. What was the distribution: 3 percent from 18-35; 97 percent from 35-54?
More from the survey:
Even more striking, men ages 18-54 who didn’t classify themselves as regular newspaper readers still cited newspaper Web sites as their top source of sports news.
Overall, 75% of non-regular readers cited newspaper Web sites as a go-to source, compared to 71% for ESPN.com, 40% for Yahoo Sports.com, and 38% for ESPN Sports Center. Sports talk radio trailed at 27%, and Sports Illustrated and SI.com came in at 16% and 13% among non-regular readers.
Newspapers’ advantage was qualitative as well. Among regular readers, 72% said sports content from newspapers was superior to any other source, and 62% said they get news and analysis they can’t find anywhere else.
On one level, it makes sense. Under the everything is local category, the local paper still has the most reporting about the local teams. Yet there are plenty of new local sites that provide popular alternatives.
Here’s the headline from all of this: Sports fans still love newspapers, says newspaper association.
Make of it what you will. Let’s just say I am skeptical.
Skeptical?? When was the last time you saw ANYONE UNDER 40 look at one?? I bring mine to work, and people look at me like I’m carrying the Dead Sea Scrolls!
This 69% ages 18-54 figure should be 6.9%!
Skeptical?? When was the last time you saw ANYONE UNDER 40 look at a newspaper? I bring mine to work, and people look at me like I’m carrying the Dead Sea Scrolls!
This 69% ages 18-54 figure should be 6.9%!
I’m a newspaper fan too – have been for years – and this is welcome news to some extent. But I was always told at ever newspaper I worked at that advertisers don’t want to spend ad money in the sports section. It’s been a few years since I last heard that, but if that’s still true, I’d think that’s a crucial piece of this conversation. Bravo to being popular with readers. But as with winning writing awards, if it doesn’t translate …
I saw the handwriting on the wall after I retired as Circulation Director of the Daily Illini in 1989. Three years later my postion was eliminated and they stopped selling subscriptions, gave the paper away. Now they have to have a student fee to stay viable. But I still read it on’line every day while I look forward to my Quincy Herald Whig being delivered to my doorstep so I can read the local sports and obits. Glad I found you on-line, Ed.