An increasing number of Canadians are reading their newspapers online, according to the latest readership numbers released yesterday by the Newspaper Audience Databank Inc.
The figures, gleaned by NADbank from surveys conducted in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa in the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007, show that for many newspapers Internet readership is growing faster than for their print versions.
Still, overall newspaper readership is relatively stable in Canada, in contrast to the state of the industry in the United States where readership, circulation and advertising revenue have been slumping.
Here's the thestar.com's take:
Newspaper readership trends remain stable in Canada's four biggest markets despite the growing popularity of online editions, according to a study released yesterday.
The survey by the Newspaper Audience Databank Inc., or NADbank, an industry group whose members include newspapers, advertisers and media buying agencies, includes readership results for Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa-Gatineau taken in the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007.
The results show about half of adults read a newspaper on an average weekday and 75 per cent read at least one on a weekly basis, suggesting daily newspapers remain a "vital source" of news in those markets. While those results are largely unchanged from the comparable year-ago period, there was "modest growth" in online readership, the survey said. ...
"Readership is stable across the country and we are starting to see more and more people turning to the online versions of daily newspapers in conjunction with the printed versions to get their news," said NADbank president Anne Crassweller.
Baby boomers remain a key demographic, while women and immigrants are potential pockets of growth, said Anne Kothawala, president and CEO of the Canadian Newspaper Association.
And while online readership is expected to increase, it won't necessarily occur "at the expense of the printed product," she said, adding readers turn to websites for breaking news, but rely on newspapers for analysis.