The Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) recently completed the first phase of a multi-year research project to understand how Apple iPad users consume news content.
Based on the responses gathered from more than 1,600 iPad users, here is what RJI have learned:
• Keeping up with news and current events is their most popular main use
- Using the iPad to follow breaking news reports and current events is the most popular use for the device, with 84.4% of respondents saying this is one of their main uses. Next according to popularity: leisure reading of books, newspapers and magazines (81.5%); browsing the Web (80.8%); and e-mail (75.8%).
- More than three quarters (78.6%) of the users spent at least 30 minutes during a typical day consuming news on their iPad. Respondents spent a similar amount of time with other media at a much lower rate: television (52.5%), personal computers (50.7%), printed Sunday newspapers (30.7%), printed weekday newspapers (18.8%).
- Nearly half (48.9%) of the respondents said they spent an hour or more during a typical day consuming news on their iPad.
• iPad news consumers prefer newspaper apps to newspaper websites; less likely to use print
• Low prices and ease of use are key factors in users' decisions to purchase newspaper subscriptions on the iPad
Read the full report here.
