The Reuters Digital News report was published this week, and surveyed 19,000 news users across 10 countries for some informative market research insights. Among them, these are my favorite:
1. Brazilians are most likely to pay for content.
Who knew Brazil was such a fertile market for subscription sales? According to the Reuters Report, 61% of surveyed news users were willing to pay for digital content. The US was forth on the list at 11%, and the UK was last with a mere 7% (see the pie chart).
#2. More people buying subscriptions for news
That’s heartening, although in light of the chart above, it’s also deceptive. It’s true that more people are willing to pay for content, either on a one-off or subscription basis, but the market may be getting close to saturation. News sites need to find either more engaging, interactive ways of delivering the news, in order to entice consumer spending, or look for alternate business models soon.
#3. People still accessing news mostly from computers, but mobile/tablet catching up.
If you’re a news site that hasn’t been able to invest in what it takes to become mobile-optimized, you’re probably still OK, as this chart by The Media Briefing illustrates how a large percentage of users are accessing news through desktops. But you won’t be for long.
As the chart below shows, younger users are more engaged with news content through mobile devices, while older users are more likely to access news through tablets. Along those lines, mobile users are more likely to use news apps, while tablet users prefer mobile web browsers for accessing news.
