Americans reluctant to pay for online news

The Harris Interactive poll revealed that, while some would pay, one in five online adults (19%) would only pay between $1 and $10 a month for this online content and only 5% would pay more than $10 a month.

The research firm says that one reason for the “dying of the daily newspaper is the graying of the daily readership”. Almost two-thirds of those aged 55 and older (64%) say they still read a daily newspaper almost every day. However, the younger a person is, the less often they read newspapers.

Just over two in five of those aged 45-54 (44%) read a paper almost every day, as do 36% of those aged 35-44. But less than one quarter of those aged 18-34 (23%) said they read a newspaper almost every day while 17% in this age group said they never read a daily newspaper.

The poll, which surveyed 2,136 US adults online between 14 and 16 December 2009, also found that just two in five US adults (43%) read a daily newspaper, either online or in print almost every day. Just over seven in ten Americans (72%) read one at least once a week while 81% read a daily newspaper at least once a month.

Last November, a survey of 500 online readers of newspapers and magazines found that only 5% would be prepared to pay a monthly or yearly subscription.

The survey, carried out by Continental Research, revealed that while a large majority (63%) said they simply would not pay to read their favourite articles online, micropayments – not subscriptions – were the most popular payment mechanism.

However, a study from Boston Consulting Groupfound that global consumers are willing to pay for news – especially from online national and local newspapers – on mobile devices.

The survey found that the amount people are willing to pay depends upon the country they live in and on the type of content that they deem most valuable.