Newspaper Web site visitors generated more than 3.5 billion page views during the quarter, spending 2.7 billion minutes browsing the sites \ more than 596 million total sessions.

These figures come as additional research indicates consumers also find substantial value in newspaper print products, with newspaper companies able to command higher newsstand and home-delivery prices for print editions.

recent Newspaper Association of America report shows higher levels of subscribers retaining subscriptions, with subscriber “churn” falling dramatically to 31.8 percent in 2008, compared with 54.5 percent in 2000. In addition, 32 percent of newspapers priced their daily edition at 75 cents at the end of 2008 (vs. just 2 percent in 2006), while the average seven-day, home-delivery weekday rate rose 8.6 percent at the same time newspapers are increasing retention.

“Newspaper publishers continue to aggressively reinvent their business models, leveraging trusted brands to attract a growing and sophisticated audience in the digital space,” said Newspaper Association of America President and Chief Executive Officer John F. Sturm. “At the same time, industry executives have adopted smarter circulation strategies that are growing circulation revenues even though paid circulation numbers are lower. This places the focus where it belongs: retaining core readers who deliver maximum value to advertisers while harnessing digital platforms to broaden our medium’s audience and position us strongly for the future.”

The Newspaper Association of America is a nonprofit organization representing nearly 2,000 newspapers and their multiplatform businesses