Trends and Facts on Online News

BY Adam Ambro
Featured image for “Trends and Facts on Online News”

Think about the world thirty years ago. Nirvana and Pearl Jam are at the peak of the music industry. Terminator 2: Judgement Day and The Silence of the Lambs are breaking box office records and winning Academy Awards. A gallon of gas costs around $1. And most Americans are receiving a newspaper in their front lawn every morning and watching the evening news during dinner. Fast forward to the present, and according to the Pew Research Center, the vast majority of adults in the United States get “at least some” news online.  They are also consuming plenty of news on traditional broadcast TV stations.

Digital News

According to Comscore data, the average fourth quarter, monthly unique visitors for the primary domains of outlets such as The New York Times or Fox News in 2020 was 32.1 million, an 11% increase over the 29 million visitors those sites received in 2019. That can include several online resources such as Apple News, apps, newsletters, or podcasts. Many news outlets are shifting their focus towards a more digital focused presentation as well.

Why shift towards digital? The digital advertising revenue for these companies has been on a massive climb for the last decade. And that climb is all about advertisers chasing the attention of the audience they want to reach. According to the Pew Research Center:

  • Digital advertising grew to $152 billion, an increase from $132 billion in 2019 and $111 billion in 2018.
  • Mobile advertising revenue also continued to grow rapidly in 2020, increasing from $87.3 billion in 2019 to $102.6 billion. Between 2011 and 2020, mobile advertising revenue increased roughly sixtyfold, from $1.7 billion in 2011 to $102.6 billion in 2020.
  • Desktop advertising revenue increased from $30.3 billion to $40.6 billion over the same time.

Where to invest resources for online news

Within the same Pew Research Center survey, they found media companies have invested resources into the following:

  • 96% have a presence on Instagram
  • 95% have a presence on Flipboard
  • 93% have a YouTube channel
  • 93% of news outlets now offer newsletters
  • 88% have a presence on Apple News
  • 57% have a TikTok account
  • 26% use Snapchat

The digital trend is nothing new. However, it remains important as ever to have a firm understanding of your advertiser’s digital presence. If you are trying to sell your digital ad space in your news outlet, your prospects should know where they stand, too. That’s where AdMall’s Digital Audit, powered by SalesFuel, comes into play. Within just a few seconds, you’ll be able to receive a “digital alignment score” that will give you a simple 1–10 accumulation of your advertiser’s digital presence.

Local TV News

The events of the past year — the contentious election and the pandemic — had consumers turning to trusted TV news sources as well. Local TV stations affiliated with major networks had audience increases of 4% for their early and late news reports in 2020. Over-​the-​air revenue amounted to $18 billion for local TV stations last year. But what really matters is that consumers were watching news reports and advertisers' messaging. If you're selling local broadcast TV media, show your prospects the profiles of consumers swayed by this format. These profiles are available on AudienceSCAN at AdMall by SalesFuel. Remind your prospects that you have many more hours of local TV news ad spots available now than in the past. And when they advertise with you, they'll be able to reach their target audience.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels


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