I’d like to see somebody do a study of what newspaper pass-along rates really are — and not a study sponsored by the newspaper industry.

I’ve heard numbers over the years ranging from 2.5-1 to 3.5-1.

At one time, those numbers might have been true.

I suspect the pass along rate is closer to 1-1 these days.

Anecdotally, my observation is that there’s a growing percentage of people who keep the habit of subscribing to a newspaper, but rarely take it out of its wrapper.  Most papers go to the curb weeks after delivery wrapped and yellowing.

Also, in households and offices were people have more options for obtaining news, the idea of EVERYBODY who might have access to picking up the available newspaper seems like an incredibly quaint idea.

Among the younger members of secondary readers, the numbers of readers must surely have dropped significantly as more young people turn to online as their primary news source.

Is there any credible and current information out there to suggest that a newspaper pass-along rate as anything other than 1-1?