Newspaper readership in Canada remained stable in 2006, with more than half of all Canadians picking up a daily newspaper every day, an industry study says.
There were 11, 831,600 readers in the top 17 markets last year, a slight increase compared to 11,756,300 in 2005, according to figures released yesterday by industry group Newspaper Audience Databank Inc.
While free daily newspapers and online editions of newspapers continue to grow and attract readers, the survey, considered the key benchmark for newspaper readership, indicates they have not cannibalized existing newspaper readership as much as has been feared.
"The results show newspaper readership is stable year-over- year, despite the fact that people have got a lot of choice nowadays to get their information," said Chris Herlihey, vice-president of research for IPG Media Canada, a company that advises major advertisers on what Canadian media to buy.
The solid numbers suggest that free newspapers have not hurt readership at the big dailies significantly over the last year, said the analyst. Still, he cautioned that the long-term trend for newspaper readership has been down. Nationally, 51 per cent of Canadians read a newspaper yesterday, but that's down from 60 per cent in 2000.
In the Toronto market, the Toronto Star continues to be the most read newspaper, with a Monday to Friday cumulative readership of 1,738,800, up 2 per cent from last year, and representing more than 40 per cent of Toronto adults.
"We are pleased that our commitment to quality journalism and our desire to meet the needs of our readers has resulted in improving our overall readership position in the GTA," said Sandy MacLeod, vice-president of consumer marketing and strategy for the Star. "If you want to know what's going on in Toronto, you have to pick up the Star."
The Star retained the greatest market share when readers were asked if they had read the paper "yesterday." About 23 per cent of adults in the Toronto census metropolitan area, or 982,000 readers, said they read the paper, down a slight 0.3 per cent from last year. The "read yesterday" figure is the most widely used barometer by advertisers to determine where they will place their dollars.
Based on that number, readership at the Star's closest competitor, the Toronto Sun, was in positive territory at 483,400, a 6.6 per cent gain or more than 30,000 readers, meaning 11.5 per cent of the adult population read the paper.
"Those are unbelievable numbers and it's great to have this kind of validation," said Toronto Sun publisher and chief executive officer Kin-Man Lee.
However, while weekday numbers were up, the flagship Sunday Sun was down 5.6 per cent to 567,000 readers. After chopping 120 employees last year across the Sun Media chain, the newspaper was the target of rumours that it might go the free circulation route.
Lee said the decision to drop the price of the paper to 50 cents from 75 cents last year, and also to offer seven-day home delivery in York and Durham regions, has helped gain readership.
The National Post also showed growth with a 3.5 per cent gain in readers to 224,900, or 5.3 per cent of Toronto adults.
"We're busting some myths that just putting out a sheer number of papers is the way to get readers," said Gordon Fisher, publisher of the Post. "We have been very focused instead on targeting readers in major cities and it's paying off."
Fisher said the Post eliminated 25,000 bulk sales over the past year, concentrating instead on a more targeted strategy.
"It was costing us a fortune and sometimes it's wasted circulation because you don't know if the paper is being read," he said.
The Saturday Post showed a particularly strong growth with a 29.7 per cent gain in readership to 215,700 readers. However, that represents just 4 per cent of Toronto adults. The Saturday Star readership figures were down slightly by 0.4 per cent, with 1,290,600 readers, representing 41.3 per cent of Toronto adults.
In comparison to the Post, The Globe and Mail showed a decline in readership of 4.3 per cent, down to 381,600 readers. Globe publisher and CEO Phillip Crawley was not available.
Also slipping in readership was the Metro free-commuter newspaper, down 11.7 per cent to 372,800 readers. Sun Media's 24 Hours commuter paper was also down slightly by 1.1 per cent to 345,700.
"I think the free dailies are reaching a kind of saturation point in the city, where you can only have so many outlets and readers," Herlihey said.
Still, Metro remains the fourth-largest-read daily in Toronto, with more readers than the Post. Torstar Corp., the owner of the Star, has launched two more Metro dailies in Calgary and Edmonton this year in partnership with Metro International.
Competing for readership with traditional dailies are online editions of newspapers, which continue to gain momentum.
About 16 per cent of adults read an online edition of newspapers in 2006, compared to 15 per cent in 2005.
The Toronto Star website, thestar.com, remains the leading newspaper website destination in the Toronto market. It increased readership by 7.5 per cent in 2006. Analyst Herlihey said it was too early to tell what influence the Star's new Star P.M. Internet newspaper, which debuted last year, was likely to have on online readership.
"It will be interesting to see how much of an impact this will have in the next survey," he said.
