DIGITAL

PARTNER PROGRAM
SUBSCRIBER SURVEY
September 2014 || Prepared by Research and Analytics

SUMMARY
! 92% of respondents say that free access to The Washington Post through the Digital Partner Program adds value to
their subscription, with almost 1/3 of respondents saying that it adds a lot of value and another 1/3 saying that it adds
quite a bit of value.
! Almost 2/3 of partner paper subscribers report that they are much more or more likely to continue their print
subscription for the next six months because free access to The Washington Post website and apps is a benet of their
subscription.
! The Digital Partner program increases subscribers opinion of their partner newspaper, with 3/4 of respondents saying
it makes them think more favorably of their partner paper.
! Free access to The Washington Post does not aect readership of the partner paper. 97% of respondents say they are
not reading their local paper any less often.
" Respondents are most interested in The Post for national news, international news and national politics with about 2/3 being very
interested in these topics.

METHODOLOGY
!An email invitation to an online survey was sent to a random sample of subscribers from the
digital partner program.
!In order to complete the survey respondents must: be a print subscriber to the partner
newspaper, aware of the digital partner program and have activated their free subscription.
!1,299 respondents completed the survey from August 27 September 8, 2014

AWARENESS AND ACTIVATION

Are you aware that free unlimited access to The
Washington Posts website and apps is a benet available
with your print subscription?
Not sure
3%
No
4%

o 93% of respondents were aware that free

access to TWPs website and apps was a
benet of their subscription.
o Among those aware of the program,
91% report having activated their free
unlimited access.

Have you activated your free unlimited access to

The Washington Post?

Yes
93%
Note: Those unaware of the program or that have not activated their subscription were terminated
from the survey

Yes

91%

No

2%

Not sure

7%

*Base: Those aware of free access

INCREASED LIKELIHOOD TO CONTINUE

o Overall, 64% say that free access makes them much more or more likely to continue their print subscription.
o Almost 1/3 of respondents say that the benet of free access to TWP makes them much more likely to continue their
subscription with their partner paper.

Does the benet of free access to The Washington Post make you any more or less likely to continue your
print subscription for the next six months?
35%

36%

29%

Much more likely

More likely

No more or less likely

0%

0%

Less likely

Much less likely

ADDED VALUE

How much value, if any, do you think the inclusion of free

access to the Washington Post adds to a subscription to
__________?
None at all
2%

o 92% of respondents say that free access to TWP adds

value to their subscription.

Not
much
6%
A lot
31%
Some
28%

o About 1/3 say that free access to TWP adds a lot of value
and another 1/3 say that it adds quite a bit of value
while 1/4 say that it adds some value.

Quite a bit
33%

PERCEPTION OF PARTNER PAPER

What impact does _______ oering unlimited access to The
Washington Post as a benet of your subscription have on your opinion
of them?

o Nearly 3/4 of respondents say that they think more

favorably of their partner paper because free
access to TWP is oered as a benet of their print
subscription.

It has no impact on
my opinion of them
26%
It makes me think
less favorably of
them
[PERCENTAGE]

o Almost no respondents say they think less

favorably of the partner paper for oering this
benet.
It makes me think
MORE favorably of
them
73%

AGREE/DISAGREE STATEMENTS
o 97% of respondents say they are not reading their local paper any less often now that they have free access to The Washington
Post.
o Almost 2/3 of respondents strongly disagree with the statement that they are reading their partner paper less often now that
they have free access to The Washington Post.
o Over half of respondents (54%) strongly or somewhat agree that their partner paper is their primary source for news.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements.

Strongly Agree

I'm reading ___(partner paper)___ less often

1% 2%
now that I have free access to TWP.
__(Partner paper)___ is my
primary source for news.

Somewhat Agree

15%

21%

Neither Agree nor Disagree

18%

Somewhat Disagree

Strongly Disagree

63%

33%

23%

14%

9%

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE REASONS YOU DECIDED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE
OFFER FOR FREE UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE WASHINGTON POST?
! At rst just to see what was oered and if anything dierent. Continue as seem to get more information related to national news. The
articles are easy to access and like that I don't have to open a separate window or go to a dierent page to read the whole article
! Great coverage of national and international news - much more in depth. It is a rst class newspaper.
! Washington Post carries stories beyond those in [partner paper]. Their columnists are excellent and their global news coverage is
complete, in-depth and well-written.
! [Partner paper] has strengthened its position in its local market by concentrating on local and regional news. The Post oers a
broader overview of national and international news and does an outstanding job of providing perspective on political activity in the
District and around the nation. The two papers are a great balance and complement each other.
! It is free. The article titles interest me. I like having another paper to read, although I don't have time to take full advantage of it.
! It was free and has articles on national and world news that I dont get with the local paper.
! Better coverage of national, international and political news I'm a political junkie so it's nice to have more info.
! As a former DC resident and fan of the city / region, I like The Post and visited the website regularly to keep up with events (and for
national coverage) until the pay wall went up. I wanted the [partner paper] web access since it's my daily paper; nding out shortly
afterwards that The Post access was included was wonderful icing on the cake.

INTEREST IN NEWS TOPICS

BASE: THOSE THAT VISIT WASHINGTONPOST.COM ONCE A WEEK OR MORE OFTEN (89%)

o Among respondents that visit washingtonpost.com once a week or more often, topics that generate the most interest are national news,
international news and national politics with about 2/3 being very interested in these topics.
o About half are also very interested in national economic news, federal government news and editorial/opinion columns.
In general, how interested are you in following news and information about the following topics?
Very Interested

Somewhat Interested

National news (excluding politics)

45%

Health care and medical news

45%

40%

45%

24%
21%
19%

38%
27%
29%

11%

1%

10%

2%

32%

1%

14%

9%

30%
30%

1%
3%

13%

43%

43%

Business news

9%

37%

1%

6% 1%

38%

47%

Science and Technology

8%

36%

52%

Editorial and opinion columns

5% 1%

27%

57%

Federal government news

2%
0%

28%

64%

National economic news

Food & recipes

27%

67%

National Politics

Travel

Not at all Interested

71%

International News

Professional Sports

Not too Interested

22%
21%

10