Competition for Onine News Audience Comes from Both Sides of the Atlantic

Implications: Competition for the global English-language news audience is not based on geography: readers can flip easily between The New York Times or The Times of London, The Wall Street Journal or The FT, CNN or the BBC.  So far, the Brits are doing a better job of internationalizing their offering.

Analysis: New research shows that major British news sites -- including the BBC, The Guardian, The Times and The Daily Telegraph are attracting more than 50% of their online audiences from readers outside the UK.

In the battle for the global online audience, these brands are doing a better job than many US sites in targeting international readers.  Some reasons:

Sports. Yes, one reason international readers go to UK sites is to find news and scores for non-US sports like cricket, rugby and football (sorry, soccer).  But on a site like the BBC's they also find news and results from the US too, like scores and slideshows from the NFL playoffs.  To find British soccer news on CNN, you first get bounced to SI.com and have to figure out how to navigate through a different site to get what you need.

News. UK-based sites have a reputation for a more global approach to news, politics and business, putting US stories in the appropriate context vs. important events in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China, India, etc.  They also offer a perspective on how the world views America, from the war in Iraq, to the upcoming election, to the global impact of Britney Spears.

Attitude. British news organizations often feature columnists and perspectives that take a clear point of view, are funny, politically incorrect (by US standards) and hard-hitting.  It's a more in-your-face style than traditional American newspapers, but perhaps more in keeping with the opinionated, blog-fueled online world.

Original Content.  The UK newspaper-market is still highly competitive on a national basis, so each newspaper is creating original content designed to scream at newsstand buyers. Often, these stories are the kind that international sites love to feature and link to.  Meanwhile, too much of what is on US sites is of the "me-too" kind: bland journalism that repeats what readers (wherever they may be) already know.

The US sites will need to do more to truly compete overseas.  The Guardian is encroaching more and more onto US-turf, with a specific online edition to compete with The New York Times -- and international ambitions to be the global voice of quality (left of center) journalism. 

Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is perhaps best positioned to take advantage of the global opportunity.  With a prominent newspaper presence on both sides of the Atlantic, he will be hitting the NY Times (and the FT) in the US and overseas with the one-two punch of The Wall Street Journal and The Times of London.  News Corp will also be looking to expand the Fox News and Business brands online (they are already the TV equivalents of News Corp's attitude-heavy newspapers).  With Fox attacking on one side, Time Warner's CNN will continue to be challenged by the BBC, particularly in Asia, in both TV and online.