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                <p>According to a new survey, local news is going mobile, with 47 percent of American adults reporting they receive at least some local news and information on a cell phone or web tablet. Moreover, 24 percent of survey respondents reported having an app that helps them get news about their local community, which equates to 13 percent of all device owners and 11 percent of the total American adult population, the Pew Research Center said.&#13;
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The dilemma that local publishers face is that only 10 percent of the adults who currently use mobile apps for this purpose actually pay for their mobile news consumption -- equivalent to just one percent of the U.S. adult population. By contrast, 36 percent of all U.S. adults reported paying for some form of local news, with the vast majority paying for local print newspaper subscriptions.&#13;
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"Many news organizations are looking to mobile platforms -- in particular, mobile apps -- to provide new ways to generate subscriber and advertising revenues in local markets," noted Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project. "The survey suggests there is a long way to go before that happens."&#13;
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Unwilling To Pay&#13;
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For many consumers, mobile access to local news and information is not only considered practical but is valued because it occurs in real time. According to Pew's latest survey results, 42 percent of mobile-device owners report getting weather updates and 37 percent receive information about restaurants or other local businesses on their phones or tablets. &#13;
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The problem for publishers is that about three out of four survey respondents reported they would not be willing to pay for online access to local news and information. Just 23 percent said they would pay $5 a month to get full access to local newspaper content, and 18 percent would be willing to pay $10 per month.  &#13;
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For the first time, more Pew survey respondents indicated they received their news from the web rather than from newspapers, with the Internet now trailing only television among American adults as the prime destination for news. Still, there is some potentially good news in the data for publishers, noted Kristen Purcell, associate director of the Pew Internet project.&#13;
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"We found that adults who consume local news on mobile devices are almost twice as likely as other adults to say they would be willing to pay to access their local newspaper online," Purcell explained. "The percentage willing to pay is even higher among local app users."  &#13;
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Growing Pains&#13;
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Compared with other U.S. adults, mobile consumers of local news are younger and live in higher-income households -- two key demographics highly valued by advertisers. However, the digital-content industry is still struggling to arrive at a consensus for how to best provide the data advertisers need about consumer behavior across multiple sites, platforms and devices. According to Pew's new survey, 51 percent of mobile consumers of local news and information use six or more sources or platforms monthly for this purpose.&#13;
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Though three advertising trade groups unveiled an initiative this month to standardize confusing digital-media metrics, Pew researchers said the task will not be easy. And despite booming iPad sales, Apple charges digital publishers 30 percent of the subscription revenue and maintains ownership of the highly coveted audience data, though news companies are trying to push back. &#13;
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"One new effort involves online publishers starting their own ad exchanges, rather than having middlemen do it for them," Pew researchers noted. "NBC, CBS and Forbes are among those launching their own, tired of sharing revenue and having third parties take their audience data."</p>
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            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class="rssreadon" rel="external" title="Local News Goes Mobile -- But Few Are Willing To Pay" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20110314/tc_nf/77700" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20110314/tc_nf/77700</a></p>