Newspaper readership in Canada remains stable according to new figures released yesterday by the Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank). But the data also suggests that newspaper websites are playing an increasingly important role.
The study—based on 13,959 telephone interviews conducted between September 2007 and June 2008—indicates that online readership of daily newspapers is creeping up in each of the country’s six major markets. It is highest in Ottawa-Gatineau, where 24% of all adults 18+ now read at least one online edition of a daily newspaper in a typical week, followed by 22% of adults in Toronto and 18% of adults in Calgary. Online readership among the six measured markets is lowest in Vancouver at 15%.
In Toronto, 971,300 adults now read an online edition of a newspaper in a typical week, up from 874,300 people as reported in the previous NADbank study. Each of the four traditional dailies in the country’s largest and most competitive newspaper market saw a marked increase in web traffic.
Weekly online readership at NationalPost.com, for example, rose 59.7% to 156,800, while TheGlobeAndMail.com saw its weekly readership increase 28.8% to 396,700. TorontoSun.com’s weekly readership rose 15.8% to 232,900, while weekly readership of TheStar.com increased 12.6% to 591,900.
“The reality is that while all the newspapers realize that their foundation for the moment is print, they’re trying to grow their options in order to reach readers in different ways and at different times throughout the day,” said NADbank president Anne Crassweller. “Online’s a natural because it’s about information, and that’s what [newspapers] do for a living. That’s why you see them working diligently to try and produce these [web] properties and find ways of reaching the right target groups. It’s a way to broaden their footprint in the marketplace.”
In Toronto, the freebies Metro and 24 hours both saw declines in their weekly web traffic, although Crassweller noted that both publications are “just getting into the game,” since it wasn’t what the commuter-oriented publications were originally designed for.
But while newspaper websites appear to be preventing reader defections, it’s unlikely they will have the same impact on ad dollars.
Analysis of Newspaper Association of America data by one prominent consultant, who wished to remain to remain anonymous, has found that for every $100 in print advertising lost by U.S. dailies between 2006 and 2007, only $11.40 was recouped through web advertising.
And U.S. publishers are well ahead of their Canadian counterparts when it comes to monetizing their web product, he adds. “Online advertising is not going to save newspapers,” said the consultant. “Publishers have got to get to work on their print products.”
But Andrew Saunders, vice-president of advertising sales for The Globe and Mail, said the web represents a “double digit” part of the publication’s total revenue. “We’re striving to do a better job in that area, but we’ve done a good job to date,” he said. “Our belief is there’s a long-term future for print in this country, and in addition to that we’ve got to continue to support and grow our digital assets to complement the overall experience.”
Each of Toronto’s traditional dailies saw a decline in weekday readership for the print product, although The Globe and Mail’s was a statistically insignificant 0.3% dip to 396,400 weekday readers from 397,700 in the previous study. Weekday readership of the Toronto Star fell 5.8%, to 929,500 from 987,300, while the National Post’s readership dipped 5.3% to 205,500 and the Toronto Sun’s dropped 5.2% to 462,200. Metro Toronto, meanwhile, surpassed the Sun as the city’s second most read newspaper, as its readership shot up 24.8% to 471,300 from 377,700.
Sun Media Corp.’s 24 hours saw its weekday readership drop 12.3% to 318,500.
This year’s study also featured first-time data for the two free dailies in Calgary and Edmonton. Metro now has 43,700 weekday readers in Calgary, more than twice as many as 24 hours’ 19,500. The Calgary Herald remains the market’s most widely-read paper with 297,300 weekday readers. It is followed by The Calgary Sun with 176,600 weekday readers, The Globe and Mail with 33,700 weekday readers and the National Post with 24,300 readers.
Metro boasts 40,300 weekday readers in Edmonton, 5,600 more than 24 hours. The Edmonton Journal has 268,900 Monday to Friday readers, followed by The Edmonton Sun (128,500).
