I Guess Magazine Publishers Will Be Lobbying Congress Now….

I Guess Magazine Publishers Will Be Lobbying Congress Now….. Doubleclick: Web Sites' Reach Matches TV, Nears Mags

“The Internet's most popular sites consistently deliver larger audiences than television's most-watched programs and are comparable in reach to popular consumer magazines, according to a study released yesterday by DoubleClick Inc.

The top three Web sites — Yahoo Search, MSN Hotmail and MSN Search — deliver audiences 43 percent larger than three of the top prime-time television programs, 'Friends,' 'ER' and 'Will & Grace,' DoubleClick's study found. The sites also attracted audiences that on average were just 5 percent less than the top consumer magazines: People, Reader's Digest and Better Homes and Gardens, the study determined….

Meanwhile, not surprisingly, DoubleClick's study found that the Internet is effective for reaching males ages 18 to 49 and high-income adults ages 25 to 54. Also according to the study, magazines far outdeliver the Internet and television in reaching 18- to 49-year-old women and African-Americans.” [DM News]

Of course, the “stickiness” factor isn't the same, but these numbers will shift even further as the mass market continues to break down and the advantages of focused advertising to targeted channels are integrated into digital video recorders (DVRs), satellite radio, and web sites.

I wondered where Google came out in the rankings, so I found the study on Doubleclick's site (PDF) and here's what I think is the most interesting statistic: for teens (ages 12-17), magazines outpace prime-time television by a 2-1 margin (298-114) and even web sites pull in more teen eyeballs than TV (213-114).

As the study rightfully points out, this is most likely due to the fact that magazines are portable, although the narrow focus of teen magazines doesn't hurt either. The report goes on to state the following:

“Seven websites, including eBay and Yahoo! Search, outdeliver Friends, while People Magazine outdelivers vehicles in either TV or online….

To put things in more perspective, the highest rating for any of the TV shows for the demos analyzed is 16.3%. By comparison, there are 31 websites among the dozen demos that have higher ratings.”

By the way, Google is fourth on the list of web sites and it, too, outpaces any prime-time TV show and all magazines except People, Reader's Digest, and Better Homes & Gardens[The Shifted Librarian]

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