May 2009 IB Local Index Highlights Top Performers in Time Spent by Site Visitors
By: Tom Masterman & Arul Sundaram
Internet Broadcasting research shows that local TV station Web sites beat all other local media sites in total local minutes in 28 of the top 50 markets. In the previous edition of the IB Local Index we found that TV sites reach up to three times the local unique visitors of the top newspaper site, in some markets, beating the top newspaper site in 11 markets. May’s report shows that TV sites can outperform newspaper sites in engagement metrics such as total minutes spent on site and time spent per visitor.
The May 2009 IB Local Index findings:
- More winners in the smaller markets. As one would expect, TV sites dominate in local time spent more often in smaller markets, where media competition is generally less intense, and where stations continue to enjoy mega ratings. TV sites won in total local minutes (the total time spent on site by visitors located within the local market) in only four of the top 10 markets.
- Time spent per visitor the key driver. Local TV sites dominated in time spent per visitor. This stickier environment was true across sites that had both large and small reach. One major contributor is likely the abundance of relevant, local video on TV sites.
- Smaller markets can generate major minutes. Surprisingly, the majority of the sites generating the most total local minutes were outside the top 10 largest markets. This is clearly a combination of the first two factors.
The 28 Markets Where the TV Site Wins in Total Minutes by Local Market Visitors
About the IB Local TV Site Index: The IB Local TV Site Index is a monthly report analyzing comScore Media Metrix data on local TV station site performance in the top 50 local media markets. Produced by Internet Broadcasting, the Index aims to identify themes and trends in TV site performance by examining standard comScore metrics, and well as derivative metrics developed by Internet Broadcasting.
Methodology: The IB Local TV Sites Index focuses on the top ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliated site in each of the top 50 local markets. Also tracked is the performance of the top local newspaper site in each market. Data is examined in aggregate, as well as by three key market tiers: Local markets 1-10, 11-25 and 26-50. The majority of the data are metrics from comScore Media Metrix.
Time spent on it’s own is not necessarily a great indication of audience engagement. When you compare traditional broadcast TV and newspapers, U.S. adults spend many more hours watching television in a typical day versus less than an hour reading a newspaper. However, there is plenty of research to show that readers are much more engaged with the content — including advertising — during the time they are reading the newspaper than they are with broadcast media, like radio and TV, where multitasking is more likely.
Gary, I appreciate your comment. I agree with you that cross-media usage should be taken into consideration when comparing time spent metrics between different media. Ball State has produced some notable studies in this area: http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CentersandInstitutes/CMD/InsightandResearch.aspx. In the case our the IB Index, we are comparing TV and newspaper Internet sites, so the potential for diluted engagement metrics is relatively the same. I also agree with you that any one metric does not provide a comprehensive picture of engagement. We chose to start with visit time since page view metrics are more easily skewed by the different ways sites structure their content elements.
Thanks again for your feedback!
Tom Masterman
[...] Broadcasting’s Tom Masterman and Arul Sundaram have posted the second monthly installment of data on local TV and newspaper web [...]
[...] Broadcasting says that “local TV station Web sites beat all other local media sites in total local minutes in [...]
I believe there are two contributing factors in winning the time spent engagement metrics in any given market. 1) Streaming video of news stories create that video on-demand environment that cannot be duplicated by the newspaper websites. 2) The other factor is the percentage of local (bookmarked) traffic. If a site relies too heavily on News aggregators (or one article and done outsiders) to increase traffic, the engagement metric will drop. Your core local audience will drill down, and spend time on your site.
John –
Thanks for the comment. I agree with you that streaming video is a key driver, but I’m not so sure that local papers won’t be able to compete here. Around the country, more newspapers are creating video capabilities, or are allying with companies that have such capability. Also, with distribution platforms such as Hulu or YouTube, if more content is consumed off-site, it can level the playing field for “non-video” brands. I think that TV has an advantage here, but that stations need to quickly ramp the amount and quality of content they are making available to advance their position. Otherwise, they could end up in a dogfight.
As far as the bookmarked traffic goes – agreed there, but, as last month’s local reach numbers pointed out, both newspapers and TV stations have a long way to go in terms of capturing real local reach. It seems doubtful that relying on on-air (offline) promotion and bookmarking will allow local sites to get the reach they need. In my opinion, stations must identify growth strategies that leverage national and other local sites to generate more local reach.
[...] Broadcasting says that “local TV station Web sites beat all other local media sites in total local minutes in 28 of [...]