News Release
November 6, 2006
Newspaper Sports Pages #1 Most Valued Print Source For Men 18-34
NNN Releases New Study Of Sports Media Usage Patterns and Attitudes #1 Ranking Holds True for Men 18-54
New York (November 6, 2006) --- A new study released today by the Newspaper National Network LP, conducted by Markitecture, reveals that newspaper sports pages outperform all other print media as the place men 18-34 go to for sports information and as the source they value most. The study was commissioned by NNN to understand the how men 18-34 and 35-54 use the various sports media, including TV, print, and online. 56% of respondents report that newspaper sports pages provide them with sports news and information “I can’t find anywhere else”.
“Three-quarters of men 18-34 are sports fans, and the avid segment in particular is a voracious consumer of information,” said NNN President and CEO Jason E. Klein. “Newspaper sports sections are the most highly valued print medium, and are second overall to ESPN. They are also seen as a far less cluttered ad environment than TV, print, or the web.”
Key Findings:
SPORTS PAGES ARE THE MOST VALUED SPORTS PRINT SOURCE FOR MEN 18-34
| Newspaper Sports Pages | 26% |
| Sports Illustrated | 16% |
| USA Today | 11% |
| ESPN Magazine | 8% |
| Sporting News | 7% |
(Question: Please indicate which source you value the most, which source you value the 2nd most and which source you value the 3rd most)
NEWSPAPER SPORTS SECTIONS ARE THE #1 PRINT SOURCE FOR NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR 18-34
| Newspaper Sports Pages | 36% |
| Sports Illustrated | 26% |
| USA Today | 18% |
| ESPN Magazine | 17% |
| Sporting News | 16% |
(Question: Please select all of the places you typically go to for sports news, information and/or analysis)
SPORTS PAGE READERS MONO-TASK
(Percent of Respondents Not Doing Anything Else When…)
| Reading of the sports pages of a newspaper | 62% |
| Accessing sports related websites | 59% |
| Reading sports magazines | 55% |
| Watching sports related TV programming | 55% |
| Listening to sports talk radio programs | 52% |
(Question: Why you access sports news, information and analysis…how often are you…”Not doing anything else”. % equals top two boxes (e.g., Usually/fairly often; seldom/never)
SPORTS SECTIONS PROVIDE LEAST CLUTTERED AD ENVIRONMENT
| Sports Pages Ads | 37% |
| Website Ads | 25% |
| TV Ads | 16% |
| Radio Ads | 14% |
| Magazine Ads | 8% |
(Question: Think about all of the sports related media you might look at or use in a typical week…which medium do you think has the least amount of ads)
Concurrent with the release of the Markitecture study, NNN is introducing several national newspaper package buys built around newspaper sports section placement and all major sports. For example, 84% of M18-34 surveyed reported that they like to read about NFL Football in the newspaper sports pages. The NNN football package covers all team markets, game days, pre and post days, various unit sizes, and newspaper web site sport sections.
More detailed results from the study are available at www.nnnlp.com and program information is available to NNN clients.
Study Background:
Markitecture conducted this study with online interviews, 20 minutes in length, from August 7 – August 15, 2006. Respondents were M18-54 who seek out sports information anywhere. The sample size of 700 included 300 non-regular readers of the sports section who access sports news and information from other sources and 400 regular readers of the sports section (read the sports section at least 2x/week). Data was weighted to reflect a nationally representative sample.
About NNN:
Established in 1994, NNN is private partnership representing virtually all of the newspapers in the United States and the Newspaper Association of America. NNN’s 23 newspaper company shareholders are: Tribune Co. (TRB), The McClatchy Co. (MNI), Advance Publications Inc., Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI), The New York Times Co. (NYT), Hearst Newspapers, Media News Group, The Washington Post Co. (WPO), Philadelphia Media Holdings, Belo (BLC), Cox, The Seattle Times Co., Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Inc., Copley, Freedom, Pulitzer, Scripps (SSP), The St. Petersburg Times, The Buffalo News, Media General, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Omaha World-Herald and the Newspaper Association of America.
NNN is the newspaper industry’s national sales and marketing arm for categories including factory automotive, packaged goods, pharmaceutical, general merchandise, technology, business and restaurants. As the “one-stop point of contact” with national advertisers, NNN is dedicated to strengthening brands, improving effectiveness, reducing costs, and improving advertiser return on the investment from national newspaper campaigns. NNN is headquartered in New York, with offices in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. More information about NNN can be found at www.nnnlp.com.
About Markitecture:
Markitecture's mission is to conceptualize, design, build, and launch new products and brands that have a high probability of success using a series of proprietary steps that take your products and services from Inception to In Market ™.