Study Finds More Folks Reading Than Watching

Fri., April 17, 1998

The Hollywood Reporter

Major-market television stations seem to be losing viewers while newspapers appear to be gaining readers, according to a comprehensive comparison of the two media.

Primetime broadcast audiences slipped 3 percent from 1996 to 1997 in the top 50 TV markets, according to Scarborough Research Corp.’s first Competitive Media Index. But newspapers in those markets gained 700,000 new readers during the same period, according to the study, which was commissioned by the Newspaper Association of America.

“We’re intrigued by this study, sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America, that finds more people are reading newspapers,” CBS spokesman Gil Schwartz said.

He pointed out that coverage of the 1996 general election helped elevate ratings for that year compared with 1997. Although 1996 was also an Olympic year, the Summer Games ended before the research period began in August.

Primetime cable TV viewership dropped off by just 0.6 percent during the same period while the other medium studied - morning drive radio - remained flat from year to year. The Scarborough study also showed that in 1997, daily newspapers were read by 58.7 percent of adults - more than primetime programming on broadcast stations (42.4 percent), cable (10.4 percent), or morning drive radio (25.4 percent).

“It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison,” said Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. “I don’t think you can really compare who’s reading a newspaper with who’s watching entertainment television. … (The RTNDA) shares a lot of issues with the NAA but in this case, they are simply putting the best possible face on newspaper readership.”

But NAA president and CEO John Sturm said the study debunks many assumptions about the media. The report is based on a telephone and mail survey of 163,439 adults in the top 50 markets between August 1996 and August 1997.

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