Nearly half (49%) of Americans agree with the statement "In the future, there will be no more newspapers because everyone will be getting their news over the Internet," according to a new survey from Arbitron and Edison Research.

This is a significant increase compared with results from just three years ago when only 27 percent agreed with the same statement.

"The average consumer’s expectation that newspapers will ‘always be there’ has eroded dramatically since we began tracking this question in 2007" said Bill Rose, senior vice president of marketing at Arbitron.

"This perception cut across nearly all age groups, except those age 65 and older" added Edison President Larry Rosin.

The findings come from a national survey of 1,753 people ages 12 and over. This is the 18th in a series of studies Arbitron and Edison have conducted since 1998 on topics relating to the Internet and New Media. The complete study will be presented in a webinars on April 8 at 2PM EDT.