Summary

In recent years, the global media industry has experienced dramatic changes, both in terms of user behaviour and revenue-making performance. Emerging channels, including the Internet, mobile and other interactive media, are outperforming their traditional counterparts in growth rates and seizing market share from them.

Digital media are a double-edged sword to the newspaper industry. Many publishers around the world are experiencing a recession in print advertising and readership, but at the same time are seeing new opportunities opening up in emerging platforms, including online and mobile. The most important task for newspapers is to wisely navigate these new areas, developing a strong presence in online and mobile. This means tapping into new revenue streams with a plan to monetize strategically both now and in the future, ensuring increasing strength in these new areas, which translates into financial gains and stability as time goes on.

The World Association of Newspapers’ 2008 World Digital Media Trends (WDMT) showcases a collection of top studies from 71 research partners about digital usage and revenue patterns. This report aims to provide a digital compass for media strategists and marketers around the world, as they consider how to best map out and tap into opportunities in a new media era.

The second edition of the WDMT report explores global and regional trends in digital media for revenue-making and usage patterns, as well as comparisons to data from other media outlets. This year, the report has been expanded by more than 30 percent, offering a wider variety of studies and more detailed view on global and regional media usage patterns and consumption.