Mobile Devices Growing News Consumption

10 2012 Monday

Mobile is good for media.

A new study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism has found mobile devices are expanding the reach of news consumption.

In fact, 43 percent of respondents reported the news they receive on their tablets and Smartphones is adding to their overall news consumption.

“At the center of the recent growth in mobile is the rapid embrace by Americans of the tablet computer,” according to Journalim.org. “Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 22 percent, now own a tablet device-double the number from a year earlier. Another three percent of adults regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in their home. And nearly a quarter of those who don’t have a tablet, 23 percent, plan to get one in the next six months.”

Sixty-four percent of tablet owners and 62 percent of Smartphone owners say they use the devices to read the news at least once a week, the study found.

Nearly all mobile users use the devices for the latest new updates. Many, however, are also reading in-depth articles. Seventy-three percent do so “at least sometimes,” including 19 percent who do so daily. Sixty-one percent of Smartphone users sometimes read longer stories, 11 percent regularly.

Other findings:

• The number of people who have directly paid for news on their tablet is in the single digits – though many do pay for a print subscription that provides them with digital access.

• 15 percent of mobile news users click on ads and approximately seven percent actually make a purchase. These figures are much higher than standard online click-thru rates.