Satisfying Audiences Blog

Newspaper readership remains strong in Canada

18 October 2010 · By Sandy MacLeod

It's a good news story: print readership is up, print and online readership up even more! The recent survey released by NADbank shows newspapers across Canada holding a very strong readership position.

In the one-million-population-plus Canadian markets, print and online newspaper readership has grown by more than 500,000 readers since 2005. Those top markets show total weekly newspaper penetration levels of between 75% to 80% of the adult population. That's an impressive reach.

When looking behind the numbers, we see very strong print products, supported by significant online offerings by all publishers. In Toronto, Canada's largest market (population 4.5 million), print newspapers reach roughly 70% of adults over 18, online readership represents roughly 25%. Combined, they reach 76% of the adult population, an impressive reach indeed.

Toronto remains one of the toughest competitive markets anywhere, with seven English-language daily publications (one not measured in NADbank) reaching roughly 3.5 million adults every week. Over the past year, weekly print readership rose 2% in Toronto, online grew 4.5% and combined the print/online combination grew by 3%.

Who says people are not reading newspapers anymore?

The Toronto Star, Canada's most-read newspaper, fared well in this most-recent release, with print weekly readership growing by 4.6% and the print/online combination weekly reach up 5.3% to just over 2.3 million readers per week. That's a nice showing for a large North American metropolitan newspaper.

The emerging story in Canada is the strength of Metro, a free weekly newspaper that is published in seven Canadian markets. Metro Toronto, first published during the summer of 2000, now has more than 500,000 daily readers, making it Toronto's second most-read newspaper after the Toronto Star. Of the seven newspapers published in Toronto, four are paid and three are free. The free publications now represent roughly 30% of total readership in the Toronto marketplace. While some readers are definitely opting for online content offerings, the desire for print in Toronto remains strong. Some of the readership may be going to free alternatives, but it is still print nonetheless.

Across Canada, newspapers remain strong. Also, it appears that while online readership for news continues to grow, it is not replacing the print habit for most newspaper readers.

The challenge for traditional media operations will be in attracting younger users. While the overall readership levels released in this study are indeed impressive, it is an aging demographic. Even the free-distribution newspapers tend to have a slightly older audience. The same can be said for traditional online news sites.

The good news, though, is that Canadian newspapers remain relevant to readers and a great vehicle for advertisers to reach consumers. The demise of newspapers is greatly exaggerated. But it is critical that we take longer-term trends seriously. We must continue to reinvent ourselves and better evolve to meet changing consumer habits.

It's a great time to be in newspapers.

Comments

Rod Gustafson | Oct 20, 2010 at 10:50 AM

As a Canadian, this is great news to learn that someone in my country is still taking the time to read in-depth news coverage. I have read a great deal on the topic of the aging demographic reading newspapers, but today I suddenly realized something profoundly simple -- thinking back to when I was 22 years old (a significant amount of time in the past), I can't recall reading a newspaper more than once a year. (Okay -- maybe the comics.) Perhaps this is simply a natural trend in that as we age we may be more likely to turn to print (both on paper and online) as a source of detailed information. Of course the other problem is that our population is declining as the boomers age. But I'm still optimistic that reading will continue to thrive in the 30+ demos.

Sandy MacLeod | Oct 20, 2010 at 11:43 AM

I'm not sure younger people will move to print but I think you are correct that as people move through life stages their interest change. Quality, trusted news sources should be the online winners over time. Print unfortunately will likely remain relevant for many years to come but mainly with the 40+ crowd.

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The Satisfying Audiences Blog aims to reflect print and digital content not just across platforms but extending into consumer events, non-news-related subscriptions and other audience vehicles for newsmedia companies. This blog written by INMA members is dedicated to identifying the emerging linkages between content, audiences, and platforms. The blog is an initiative by the INMA North America Division Board of Directors.

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