If you’ve gotten your news online from a digital news source in the last year you’re definitely not alone. New comScore data shows that, since April of 2013, the amount of people engaging with news content offered by digital news media sources has increased nearly 20% and that, in April of 2014, nearly 80% of adults in the United States had gotten at least some of their news online.
comScore found that, across the board, there’s been an increase in digital news consumption among Americans and that the average user is viewing their online news using a mobile device.
Interestingly, the largest increase in digital content consumption was by young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, rising a whopping 146%. The new data also show that, when it comes to online news, more people than ever are getting it using their mobile devices and fewer than ever are using laptops and PCs to do it.
Indeed, except for people 55 years of age or older, the consumption of digital news on desktops and laptops continued to decline for all other age groups.
One of the biggest factors behind this increase is simply the fact that the online audience is growing, with an increase in the last year of nearly 10%. The biggest age group for digital news consumption was shown to be 25 to 34 years of age, where 84% were engaging with digital news media on a regular basis.
The data that comScore used in their analysis comes from multiplatform measurements, a system that the company launched in the last year. They say it offers a very reliable picture of total audience because, even if a user accesses content on multiple devices, they are only counted once.