Digital Magazine and Newspaper Editions: The Data
− Their primary motivation is usage of the content to do their jobs better
and to indentify relevant products and services for further consideration.
− Rich media is a valued enhancement to about half of the sample
population.
− Online is the preferred medium for receiving industry and job
information, industry news, and product announcements.
− Digital subscribers are increasing their online activities and decreasing
their print activities.
− Timeliness and environmental factors are crucial to many subscription
decisions.
� Zinio commissioned the Harrison Group to study their readers’ behaviors
and preferences in primarily B2C markets. The report is available at
http://www.zinio.com/express3?issue=248953302. Here are some
highlights of the study:
− Digital subscriptions were most popular to readers of magazines
covering information technology, general news and business, adult
content, and hobbies and special interests.
− Almost half of digital subscribers were not subscribers of the print
magazine.
− As was the case with B2B subscribers, immediacy of delivery, archiving,
and environmental friendliness were key attributes. B2C readers also
favor portability.
− 80% of their digital subscribers are very or extremely satisfied and are
likely to renew their subscriptions.
− Once readers have one digital subscription, they are likely to add more.
− The majority of respondents to this survey reported that they spent more
than one hour with each digital magazine. This is not surprising in that
B2C publications tend to be longer than B2B publications.
− B2C subscribers also like the opportunity to click directly on
advertisements that are linked to advertisers’ Web sites. Rich media is an
attractive feature for adding sizzle to ads.
We asked our sponsoring vendors for their projections of future activity in the markets
that they serve. Using their growth rates over the past two years with their projected
growth for the next two years, we believe that it is reasonable to forecast that by the end
of 2009, there will be 8,000 publications offering digital replica editions. That number
of digital publications has the potential to yield approximately 31.5 million digital
subscriptions. These numbers are consistent with current industry trends, and the
number of digital subscribers could grow higher if better penetration rates are achieved
over the next two years. As we plan for future studies, we will encourage the industry
stakeholders to routinely gather a common set of data to more accurately measure the
industry’s progress.
In summary, growth to date of the number of publications and the number of digital
subscriptions has been impressive. While this paradigm shift is still in its early stages —
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©2008 Gilbane Group, Inc. http://gilbane.com