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iPad Users Favor Digital Newspapers

Digital editions of newspapers are favored by many users of Apple's iPad, according to a new survey. Many of the iPad respondents have either canceled or plan to cancel their print subscriptions, according to the University of Missouri's Reynolds Journalism Institute. The iPad users want low-cost and reliable apps for digital newspapers.

According to a new survey released Thursday, many iPad users are likely to cancel print  subscriptions now that they are receiving digital editions of their favorite newspapers. Moreover, the report compiled by the University of Missouri's Reynolds Journalism Institute noted that 10.7 percent of respondents indicated they had already canceled print subscriptions.
Still, those newspaper subscriptions were already in jeopardy, so it's not news that they are likely to go away, noted Forrester Research Vice President James McQuivey.

"If anything, the iPad is a ray of hope, because it suggests that people will at least pay for something, as opposed to the free news they get online  currently," McQuivey said. "Newspaper companies will respond by asking people to bundle the paper and digital versions, but over time they understand most reading will shift to digital subscriptions."

Looking for Lower Prices

When asked in an open-ended question what factors would influence their news-application  or newspaper-subscription decisions, iPad users most often said "a price lower than the price of a print subscription." The respondents are also looking for a very easy to use and reliable app, with access to at least all the content available in the printed edition, researchers added.

"While respondents mention video  and interactive features, they are much less commonly expressed in the survey than the aforementioned issues," the report's authors wrote.

Among the 931 respondents who were subscribing to print newspapers when surveyed, there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between iPad news consumption and the likelihood of canceling print subscriptions, researchers noted. For example, 58.1 percent of those using the iPad at least an hour a day for news said they were very likely to cancel their print subscriptions within the next six months.

On the other hand, new subscription sales opportunities should arise among iPad users as traditional newspapers add digital editions to their publishing portfolios. More than 30 percent of the survey's respondents indicated they were not subscribing to printed newspapers at the time the survey was conducted.

A Satisfying Reading Experience

About 60 percent of the survey's respondents implied that they had previously used an e-reader. Despite the iPad's lack of an easy-to-read E Ink screen, respondents rated their reading experiences as somewhat better or about the same as reading experiences with printed newspapers or magazines.

The most popular newspapers among survey respondents were The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. However, older survey respondents were more likely to say the reading experience on the iPad was worse than traditional print media.

"For example, the more that respondents had read printed newspapers in the past 30 days, the worse they rated the iPad reading experience compared to reading a printed newspaper," the report's authors wrote.

More than 93 percent of the survey's respondents rated their overall satisfaction with the iPad as either very satisfied (70.2 percent) or somewhat satisfied (23.4 percent). The other good news for Apple: 76.1 percent indicated they are very likely to recommend the iPad to a friend or relative.

Among the 1,609 iPad users surveyed by the Reynolds Journalism Institute, the top iPad activity category was following breaking news and staying abreast of current events (84.4 percent). Other popular iPad activities included leisure reading of books, newspapers and magazines (81.5 percent), browsing the web (80.8 percent), and e-mail  (75.8 percent).