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Digital editions not catching on

In case there is any doubt that currently available digital editions of newspapers are a horrible experience and destined to failure, Vin Crosbie has compiled some numbers on how poor their adoption as been:

• USA Today - 900 self-reported (0.05 percent of the total weekday print circulation of 2,154,539).
• The New York Times - 3,172 ABC-audited (0.28 percent of 1,118,565).
• The Washington Post - 424 ABC (0.06 percent of 732,904).
• Boston Globe - 321 self-reported (0.03 percent of 452,109).
• Sacramento Bee - 100 self-reported (0.03 percent of 303,841),
• Boston Herald - 150 self-reported (0.06 percent of 248,988).
• Arkansas Democrat Gazette - 3,418 s-r (1.8 percent of 187,601).

UPDATE (8/19): In the Comments area of this post, Vin Crosbie explains why the current digital editions aren't successful and says, "Retailed digital editions of newspapers aren't destined to failure, but will fail until those technologies are in the hands of consumers."

Discussion

1 comments about 'Digital editions not catching on'

It's not quite a simple as stated above.

Retailed (i.e., those sold directly by the publication to the consumer) digital editions of newspapers do have dismal circulations. This is because the proper technologies (i.e., truly interactive files of less than 1MB per edition delivered routinely, wirelessly, automatically, and without proprietary applications into consumers' handheld, portrait-screen, 4x6" or larger-sized combination phone/music/video/reading devices or e-paper devices) are still three to five years away. Retailed digital editions of newspapers aren't destined to failure, but will fail until those technologies are in the hands of consumers.

However, the Olive Software retailed digital editions that are hybrids of digital editions and Web sites (such as at the Arkanas Democrat Gazette but not at the Washington Post) have had a modicum of relative success for newspapers that insist upon charging for online content (itself is a questionable practice and not particularly successful).

The picture is different for digital editions of business-to-business magazines, scientific journals, or trade journals. They've generated healthy additional circulations from digital editions. For example, 65,000 of Ziff Davis' eWeek magazine's 400,000 circulation is now from digital editions.

Meanwhile, wholesaled digital editions of newspapers (sent by the publications via the Internet to distant locations, such as kiosks, hotels, resorts, corporations, cruise ships, etc., where the editions are printed out and distributed to consumers) are certainly successful for publishers. These generate ten to 20 times the additional circulations that retailed digital editions do and all major publishers should use these (vendors include NewspapersDirect, Satellite Newspapers, etc.)

Posted by Vin Crosbie at August 19, 2004 8:15 AM

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