Who Wants a PDF Newspaper?
Well, hardly anyone, according to a post on Poynter's e-Media Tidbits.
The post summarizes a study from the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association that shows that PDF viewership accounts for 0.07% of newspaper circulation in Norway. To put that into context (in case you're not fully up to speed on Norwegian newspaper circulation figures), that amounts to 128 copies per day for regional newspaper Bergens Tidende.
According to the article, the PDF files are sold (for roughly $2 USD) while the online web edition remains free.
I think that the premise of the study (and the underlying business model) of selling a PDF copy of an entire newspaper is flawed, however. It's not that no one wants a PDF version of a newspaper. It's that no one wants a single PDF version of an entire newspaper. Clearly, if you are using it online, the web version offers better navigation, constant updates and more.
I do think that there is a market for a PDF version of a custom newspaper. Suppose I could get a PDF delivered to my Blackberry each morning containing the top political stories, articles about my favorite teams and more. That would give me something useful to read on the subway (where the offline capability of PDF would be a plus). I probably wouldn't pay for it, but I'd accept some advertising. I think that PDF can be a compelling format for custom, personalized newspapers, but not simply a dump of 64 printed pages.
The failure of the PDF newspapers in Norway is not an indictment of the concept of offline news. It's an indictment of the lack of thought of how users will consume a product before they package it.
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