When media crossover favors the Net

There were two interesting media crossover research stories this week.
comScore Media Metrix reports that 45.1 million US net users have their net-enabled PC and TV in the same room, and roughly one-half use both at the same time (It’s also covered on InternetNews.com). Meanwhile, The Media Audit says 40% of those who regularly read print employment ads also regularly read Web classified job sites, and 14.9% of those who regularly visit Web job sites also regularly read print job ad.
This is bad news for traditional media.
If someone is on the Web, they’re probably not paying a lot of attention to the TV, especially during the commercials.
While The Media Audit tries to put the best face on the classified ad crossover rate, saying “We tend to forget that Monster.com is selling a single media, while CareerBuilder.com is selling a multimedia package of web and print. As our knowledge of the Internet increases, it becomes more evident that in many instances the ‘new media’ is becoming an extension of the old media.” However,

  1. Net job seekers are happier with what they’re getting than newspaper users (they have a lower crossover rate).
  2. The more desireable candidates, on whom the biggest ad budgets are spent, are more likely to be on the Net.

The Net doesn’t always win crossover battles (It’s still a lousy entertainment medium), but it’s clearly a strong competitor. [Thanks to eMarketer and Martha Stone at Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits]