More than 50% of Times-Picayune subscribers say they’ll buy Baton Rouge Advocate’s New Orleans edition
A survey by the LSU Public Policy Research Lab found that 51.4% of current Times-Picayune subscribers plan to buy the Baton Rouge Advocate’s New Orleans edition, and 28.2% of those who don’t subscribe to the Times-Picayune plan to buy the Advocate. (The Advocate reports today that so many New Orleans area residents called the Advocate to subscribe that they overwhelmed paper’s circulation department phone system.)
Other findings from LSU’s “The State of Newspapers in New Orleans” survey:
* 41% of respondents said they were very interested in receiving local news in print on a daily basis.
* 34.3% of area residents report that they have a paid subscription to the Times-Picayune
* Only 11% of area respondents said they would pay for online news.
* 82% were aware of the Times-Picayune’s plans to move to 3 days a week.
* Television is the main source of local news for respondents, with 45% of residents turning to it. Local newspapers and the Internet come in second and third with 23% and 19% respectively.
A summary of the survey results is after the jump.
LSU sent this summary of its survey:
Here are the results of a survey conducted by the Public Policy Research Laboratory of the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. The lab surveyed 1,043 New Orleans-area residents, Times-Picayune readers and non-readers.
* Interestingly respondents who have Internet access at home (36.7%) are more likely than those without Internet access (23.8%) to have a paid subscription.
* Why do people read newspapers? The most common answer is ‘I prefer reading news in print’ – 41.6%.
* As for interest in another paper, 2 out of 5 (40.8%) respondents said they would consider buying a subscription to a different daily paper that was headquartered in New Orleans but is not the Times- Picayune. However, fewer than 1 in 4 (23.3%) of respondents would consider buying a subscription to a paper that was not headquartered in New Orleans but came from elsewhere in Louisiana
* After being informed of The Advocate’s plans to publish a New Orleans edition, more than 1 in 3 (36.2%) respondents said they plan to buy it.
— 1 in 2 (51.4%) current Times-Picayune subscribers plan on buying The Advocate’s New Orleans edition.
— And 1 in 3 (28.2%) of those who do not subscribe to the Times-Picayune said they plan to buy The Advocate.
* Respondents were also asked if they plan to read The Advocate’s coverage online. Nearly 1 in 2 (45.6%) respondents said they planned on doing so.
* Television is the main source of local news for respondents, with 45% of residents turning to it.
— Local newspapers and the Internet come in second and third with 23% and 19% respectively.
* 4 out 5 respondents (82%) were aware of the Times-Picayune’s plans to move to 3 days a week. (Of course that means 1 out 5, or 18% , were unaware.)
* 41% of respondents said they were very interested in receiving local news in print on a daily basis.
— More than 1 in 3 respondents (36%) said they plan on buying The Advocate’s New Orleans edition.
* 34.3% of area residents report that they have a paid subscription to the Times- Picayune
* When asked why they read the Times-Picayune in print, 42% of respondents said they prefer reading news in print, and 24% said they want to support local business.
* 2 out of 5 (42%) respondents think the loss of the daily Times-Picayune will have a major impact on their ability to keep up with information and news about their local community.
* More than 1 out of 5 (22%) respondents think the loss of the daily Times-Picayune will cause a major increase in government corruption.
* While 1 in 4 NOLA area residents read a local paper every day (25%) , 1 out of 3 residents do not read a local paper ever (33%).
* Only 1 in 10 (11%) New Orleans residents report reading NOLA.com every day. Fewer than half of respondents (46%) were aware that NOLA.com and The Times-Picayune are connected.
— 21% think they are separate entities, and 33% “don’t know” if they are connected.
* Only 11% of area respondents said they would pay for online news.
* Read “The State of Newspapers in New Orleans” survey
