Digital magazine readership increased by 57% in the past year according to new data from the Print Measurement Bureau (PMB), with the number of people reading online increasing from 1.9 million to 2.9 million.
Approximately 9.5% of Canadians 12+ now read magazines digitally, up from 6.1% in the 2013 study.
While desktop/laptop access comprises the largest portion of digital readership (1.6 million) smartphone use increased 162% to 1.3 million, while tablet use increased 115% to 1.25 million.
Mirroring findings from the Newspaper Audience Databank’s (NADbank) recent release, the PMB study found only 20% of digital readers exclusively use digital devices to read magazines.
The study also found that digital readers tend to be more urban, higher educated and more likely to be professionals than print readers. Digital reading is 55% higher in Toronto than it is in the rest of the country, 27% higher in Edmonton, 23% higher in Vancouver and 19% higher in Calgary.
Print readership of the 81 PMB-measured titles averaged 1 million readers per issue, a negligible decline from 1.04 million in the Fall 2013 study, but in line with the Fall 2011 study.
The average degree of interested remained unchanged at 6.9 out of 10, while the average minutes per issue increased to 45 from 41 in the previous study.
The fused PMB/comScore database, meanwhile, shows that incremental website reach for magazines has increased from 10% in the first year that fused data was released (2010) to 25% in the most recent study.
Topline readership for the 81 titles measured by PMB can be found here.
