Internet Growing as News Medium

Posted on January 10, 2002

Use of the Internet as a news source is approaching, and in some cases surpassing the use of traditional media, according to a recent study conducted for MSNBC.com by Market Facts Inc. Additionally, the survey concludes that broadband users (high speed Internet connections) are more likely to use streaming audio, video and rich media to optimize coverage of breaking news and live events.

Currently, 65% of the U.S. Internet population report regularly using the Internet as a source for news, exceeding magazines (58%), almost equal to radio (67%), and approaching network TV (89%) and cable (76%) usage.

``Compared to other long-established media, the Internet is rapidly being adopted by consumers nationwide as a primary source for news,'' said Merrill Brown, senior vice president and editor in chief of MSNBC.com. ``Additionally, broadband users, especially in the workplace, are taking full advantage of the interactive content offerings by using live and on demand video and packages specifically developed for high speed connections.''

In addition, according to the survey, broadband users watch streaming video 4.1 times a month, versus 1.3 times for dial-up connections. Nearly one-half (44%) of broadband users have watched streaming news video on the Internet and nearly two thirds (67%) of the broadband audience has seen a streaming advertisement.

Results from the survey also found that consumers with Broadband access are more likely to turn to the Internet for breaking news. Of the Broadband audience, 23% turn to the Internet for breaking news as compared to 6% of users with a dial-up connection. Comparatively, 34% of broadband users looking for breaking news would turn to Broadcast TV, 29% would turn to Cable TV, 7% would turn to the radio and 2% would turn to newspapers. The online news medium has the greatest penetration among media users in the workplace, with 31% utilizing the Internet for news and information. If news breaks during the day, working adults are particularly likely to turn to online news, as it is the source used by the greatest number of people in the workplace.

31% of news media users surveyed use the Internet for news and information while at work, more than newspapers (23%) and radio (17%). The majority of the users surveyed utilize online news services to seek personally relevant information, such as weather, stock quotes and local news. The three news topic of most importance to the Internet population are local news, national news and weather.

About half of the Internet population surveyed considers local news to be the most important (46%). 39% say that weather is most important and 37% respond that national news is most important. As the Internet medium matures, more people are trying online news services.

Over four in five Internet users (81%) have tried at least one of the major online news services (ABC News, AOL, CBS News, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSN, MSNBC.com, NY Times, USA Today, Washington Post, WSJI, and Yahoo!) with an average of 2.9 different services tried. The majority of Internet users (58%) are regular consumers of at least one online news service, with an average of 1.4 services used regularly.

The MSNBC/Market Facts study collected data via telephone coincidental interviews with a random sample of 350 online news users during July and August 2001. All participants were screened for regular Internet usage (within the last two weeks) and at least a minimum consumption of news in some form (use of any news media within last two weeks).