Internet 'boosting UK news audience'

15th May 2008

Online news is providing a boost to overall audience numbers for current affairs providers in the UK, one expert has commented.

Jack Flanagan, comScore's executive vice-president, said that the growing prominence of web news could be a good thing for the sector overall.

"It's clear that the expansion of traditional print newspapers to the internet is making a significant contribution to their overall readership," Mr Flanagan commented.

He was speaking after figures from the digital world analyst indicated that 44 per cent of the online population in Britain accessed a newspaper's website in March.

The Sun received the most page views, accounting for 30 per cent of the overall share with 4.3 million hits.

Meanwhile, the Guardian was found to be the second most popular news website, attracting 3.6 million readers, with the corresponding figures for the Telegraph and the Times 2.8 million and 2.6 million respectively.

The Times utilises search engine optimisation, its editor-in-chief Anne Spackman recently said, according to the Press Gazette.