Great spread!

In the face of falling paid subscription numbers, publishers are looking for ways to sell advertisers "total audience" figures, no matter where or how they consume that content, reports Advertising Age.

Publishers are attracted to so-called "total audience" measurements since it is among the only ways they're going to be able to point to readership growth.

They advocate basing ad rates on a combination of paid subscribers, pass-along guessing, online readers and other numbers.

Advertisers, however, aren't so quick to jump on board. Non-paying readership is perceived as inherently less valuable since those readers aren't as likely to feel warmly toward the title and its accompanying ads.

But online content, which is almost entirely ad-supported, is also devalued by advertisers. It has been difficult to imbue online ads with the same kind of emotional connection readers have with print ads.

Nonetheless, print publishers are pushing for cross-media measurement in the face of changing media consumption habits.