Could Canadian magazines be Internet proof? The latest data from Toronto’s Print Measurement Bureau provides evidence that seems to support the theory.
While the latest study features the usual readership fluctuations among individual titles, the total number of readers across the 114 titles measured by PMB 2008 was 115.1 million—up from 110.5 million in the 2007 study and 105 million in PMB 2002.
The average number of readers per magazine remained consistent at 1.06 million, while the number of readers per copy—excluding newly measured titles—also remained constant at five.
In addition, the average amount of time spent reading magazines remained unchanged at 41 minutes, as did the average number of occasions people read a magazine at 2.3. Readership of French-language magazines exceeded that of English titles both in time spent (45 minutes versus 39) and number of occasions read (2.5 versus 2.2).
The study, based on personal interviews with Canadians age 12+, also found that while the amount of time Canadians spend on the Internet (excluding e-mail) has increased to 6.5 hours in the latest study from 3.5 hours a week in PMB 2003, the average number of magazine issues read per month has remained stable at five.
“In the turmoil that’s being caused by a very, very aggressive and growing medium, magazines are maintaining their position,” says Hastings Withers, PMB’s executive vice-president, research director.
The study also found that while Internet use among the 12-24 age group has increased to slightly over 10 hours in the latest study from just under six hours a week in 2003, magazine readership during that time has remained essentially flat at 5.2 issues per month.
“[The younger demos] are consuming more media, but it’s not at the expense of the magazine industry,” says PMB president Steve Ferley. “They are not replacing medium A with medium B.”
The trend extended into other demographics. For instance, while Internet use among people 25-49 has increased to 7.7 hours in the new study from slightly over four hours per week in 2003, magazine readership over the same period has remained constant at 5.5 issues per month. In the 50+ demo, weekly Internet use has increased to 3.3 hours from just over one hour per week, while magazine consumption has remained essentially flat at 4.2 issues per month.
“I think magazines are really well-positioned to withstand the challenge from the Internet better than the other media,” says Susan Ellsworth, vice-president, research director for OMD Canada. “It’s more difficult to multi-task when you’re reading a magazine [and] you really do feel you have a personal relationship with the magazine that you choose to read. They speak to your interests and your lifestyle.”
For the first time this year, the PMB report also features an examination of Internet shopping, which found that 8.6 million Canadians made an Internet purchase in the past 12 months, up from 7.5 million last year and 4.5 million in 2006. Books were the most purchased product among Internet purchasers at 32%, followed by travel-flights at 26.7%, clothing/footwear at 22.9% and computer software at 20.9%.
And while the largest share of Internet purchasers, 29.2%, were valued between $1 and $100, 22.3% made purchases in excess of $1,001 and 16.5% made purchases between $401 and $1,000.
