Data Reveals 'Net Of Magazine Audience Reach

Data Reveals 'Net Of Magazine Audience Reach
by Joe Mandese

IN A FINDING THAT COULD transform the way advertisers think of the relationship between magazines and the Internet, new research reveals that there is relatively little cannibalization between printed magazines and their Web sites, and that much of their audience is "net," or unduplicated reach. The finding is made possible by a new collaboration of magazine audience researcher Mediamark Research Inc. and online audience researcher Nielsen//NetRatings.


The research, which fuses, or directly integrates the databases of the two companies to create the equivalent of a single-source, is one of an influx of new applications in data integration and so-called fusion, which are transforming the art of media planning and buying (see related story in today's edition). Dubbed Net//MRI, the new product seems to give top billing to NetRatings, but also is an allusion to its result: the "net" audience that is pure to the print and online editions of magazines. What it shows, is that on average, 83% of the visitors of the Web sites of 23 large circulation monthly magazine accessed those magazines' content exclusively online.

The companies did not disclose what percentage of the print editions' audiences accessed the magazine content exclusively in print, but they did say that there was a considerable range among the Web-only percentages of individual magazine titles - from 65% to 96% - highlighting the need for this new form of research.


The data also revealed differing usage patterns and characteristics based on the demographics of users. Male visitors to online magazine sites were more likely than female visitors to read only the online version, though there was relatively little difference between older and younger visitors (see data below).