AP targets 18-34 year old crowd with new ASAP online news service

[Brian]

Traditional news outlets and the print media are experiencing declining subscription rates and circulation as more people personalize their news online. Blogs and popular news sites are drawing readers and viewer away from newspapers, magazines, and TV news.

In an effort to attract the highly desirable "lost generation" of 18-34 year olds and help news outlets, the Associated Press will launch their asap service on September 19th, nearly 2 years after the project's inception. AP calls asap "AP's service for a younger audience".

asap is AP’s new multimedia service featuring original content designed to appeal to under-35-year-old readers, a coveted but elusive audience, and to connect with them – on their terms.

asap builds on what makes AP great: the highest standards of journalism, global reach, creativity and staff dedication. Grounded in these values, this new product is provocative, smart, relevant and immediate.

The exclusive content is unlike any you have seen before. A diverse team of AP reporters and editors produced original material with a fresh voice, style and presentation. In addition, asap taps the smarts and talent of AP bureaus around the world to offer a global perspective and on-the-ground coverage in ways nobody else can.


You can watch a promotional video about asap here (58 MB Quicktime download).

[via PaidContent.org]

[Bob Russell]

I'm clearly from a different generation. That doesn't appeal to me at all!

But I'll give them this.. the demo does look slick. I suppose it's well done for what it's supposed to be. I'd be interested to see what the target age range thinks of it.

[Antoine of MMM]

I dunno. Yea, targeted news is all teh rage, but people will read quality no matter what the targeted age group. I dont know that this is as much a solution for a new initative or just another way to offer internships for grads.

[Brian]

Here's Jupiter Research analyst David Card's take on asap. After watching the promotional video, I have to agree. People in the upper portion of the 18-34 year old demographic have more in common with the demographic above them than those under 25. I'm 35, and the video appeared to try too hard to be "hip" and seemed targeted at a younger audience with a very short attention span. The quick, flashy, shot with a shaky handheld camera style was very distracting.

And enough with the mythical "18-34" demo, already. There's a huge difference between how 18-24 year-olds use media versus how 25-34 year-olds do. In fact, that older group is usually more like the next older group (35-44) than it is like the young 'uns. JupiterResearch surveys show that 50% of online adults use the Internet regularly for daily news, while 38% of 18-24 year-olds do so and 55% of 25-34 year-olds do. Likewise, while 11% of online adults say they regularly read blogs, that figure is 24% for 18-24 and 13% for 25-34. Twice as many of the youngest adults listen to podcasts. That Internet is no panacea for reaching that age group. They're tough to get to overall -- they spend less time online and less time watching TV than the average adult, too.

[Bob Russell]

Don't they also do that <stupid!> handheld camera style on the big hit tv shows like ER and LA Law and all that? I personally hate it for new or entertainment or whatever. I hope the fad dies, or at least gets reserved for places where it really is needed.

As far as AP, remember that "tv" may soon be delivered over the internet, so maybe they are trying to set themselves to take over from the tv news networks?

[Laurens]

Originally Posted by BobR

Don't they also do that <stupid!> handheld camera style on the big hit tv shows like ER and LA Law and all that?

You mean like NYPD Blue? I get nauseous watching that show.