(Michael P. Smith)

It is pretty obvious that I continue to be fascinated by the newspaper Las Últimas Noticias in Santiago, Chile. The fascination is somewhat self-serving because the staff of the newspaper seems to have embraced the idea that engaging readers in an ongoing discussion about the news is one of the key experiences from the Readership Institute’s research on motivating experiences that drive newspaper readership. At least, that is what first caught my attention when I first visited Santiago and wrote about LUN.

My visit and subsequent conversations with Editor Augustín J. Edwards sparked my ongoing interest and led to an updated post last year about how Las Últimas Noticias is using Web metrics tools to get a better understanding of readers. The American Society of Newspaper Editors-Newspaper Association of America Growing Audience initiative also wrote a case study (PDF) about Las Últimas Noticias.

I was also intrigued by the idea of a virtuous publishing cycle that used reader input via the Web to create a newspaper that is also sold to advertisers via the Web.

At the same time, I was finding it difficult to get my head around a concept - that Edwards could eventually purposely erode his newspaper’s then 190,000 circulation for the sole purpose of creating the world’s first all-Web morning newspaper.

Data we have seen at MMC indicate an almost universal behavior - Web use of news sites peaks at noon, creating a perfect bell curve. This image alone explains the decline of newspaper readership better than any other. Our research in 1994 - before American workers had access to the Internet on their desktops - more than half of the home-delivered morning dailies were read at lunch or later. The Internet has replaced that habit - everywhere but Chile. In Chile in 2006, www.LUN.cl reached its peak usage at 9 a.m., in effect becoming a morning newspaper.

My fascination continues because I believe there are lessons to be learned about using the Web as a publishing platform, a forum for feedback and discussion about the news, and a database of usage and breadth and depth of interest. In many ways, Editor Edwards has also turned his newspaper into an ongoing experiment.

Like many of the editors who innovate that we are talking with, he is not certain where this will end up, but he appears certain that the direction he is going is right. He is always interested in feedback and how others might use the customer intelligence he is mining through this project. We asked him for an update. Here is his response:



Every hour, stories are ranked according to "clicks" and this information is shared daily in the newsroom - and with online readers.

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Among the strengths for readers is that the newspaper does not dwell on stories after readers have lost interest - the click-throughs help guide when to drop or continue with a developing story. Because adjustments can be done quickly, the system allows the newsroom to try different types of stories and unusual angles.

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What are you doing to innovate?

We attached a page-view counter to each story on our Internet site to track reader interest. Our hope is that by analyzing the data we can improve future content.

We rank stories according to Internet readership ("clicks") and we make this evident to the Internet reader (and our competition) on our homepage. This allows the new reader to start with those stories that are most likely to "start a conversation."

We started offering a free digital copy of the printed edition of Las Últimas Noticias across all platforms (on , first on the Internet in December of 2005, and then on mobile in June of 2007). The daily update (at 4:00 a.m.) of the site is automated and the idea is for the reader to have a similar experience on all platforms. The Internet business model is similar to broadcast TV: free content for the reader that is paid for by advertising on the printed edition. The idea is that the display advertiser will benefit from the additional reach that the electronic platforms deliver. The sales force offers advertising space of the electronic and printed platform as a package (approximately 140,000 average daily circulation and 350,000 daily unique visitors).

We have started to sell display ads with animation (video) on the Web and have sold TV commercials on our Web site in conjunction with display ads.

We have also experimented with digital copies of department shop pamphlets (digital free standing inserts) that are inserted in the printed edition of the newspaper.

We have included a digital version of magazines on the homepage (Cosas, National Geographic, etc.) that are offered for free in a slide-show format.

We have an agreement with two broadcast TV channels who supply us with free video clips, at our request, to augment the reader experience.


Where have you found success?

During the first year (2006) of having every page available, for free, on the Internet we dropped our circulation by 8.1% but gained 10.9% in advertising revenue. During the second year (10 months of 2007 versus 10 months of 2006) our circulation has increased by 3.0%, our advertising revenues have grown by 17.0% and have managed to raise the average price of our ads (real dollars per column) by 5.4%, thanks to the inclusion of TV commercials and smaller price discounts. We find that advertisers and advertising agencies are valuing the additional readership provided by the electronic platforms.

We have also discovered that many readers are willing to read, in depth, a digital copy of the printed page. In our case, the average time on site is 7:10 minutes, and although 29% of visits lasted 0-10 seconds (probably because our site is their initial screen), over 50% of all visits lasted more than 3 minutes.




What are your plans going forward?

We are looking for greater development of the mobile platform. With the onset of the 3G network and ever more powerful mobile telephones, telephony and computing are merging at a fast rate.

In addition, we would like to have a version of our Internet programs that can be offered commercially to other newspapers, developed and supported by a world class software company.

We will continue to look into the whole issue of interactivity with readers: Reader-generated content that can enhance other reader's experiences and support a viable business model.


By Michael P. Smith (m-smith3@northwestern.edu)
Michael P. Smith is executive director of the Media Management Center.