The latest study from Toronto’s Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) suggests tablets are having a marked effect on how newspaper content is being consumed, particularly from a digital standpoint.
In 2010, 80% of adults 18+ who accessed newspaper content digitally did so strictly via PC, while just 2% accessed content strictly through mobile, and 18% accessed content through both digital platforms.
Three years later, the number of adults 18+ accessing via computer only has plunged to 49%, while the number using mobile only has risen to 20%, and the number using both platforms has increased to 31%.
The shift is even more pronounced among younger readers, with the percentage of adults 18-34 consuming content via computer only falling from 70% in 2010 to 40% in 2013, and mobile-only consumption rising to 26% from 3% in 2010.
The study shows that overall newspaper readership continues to steadily migrate towards online. It found that 5.6 million people now consume digital newspaper content in a typical week—an increase of 115,000 per week from the 2012 study—while 870,000 Canadians read a newspaper app each day.
The study indicates a “high level” of duplication in access, with 76% of newspaper website readers also reading a print edition in a typical week. NADbank president Anne Crassweller said the data suggests Canadians are interacting with newspapers on a variety of platforms throughout the day.
While print readership across the country remained relatively consistent, the study did show continued slight erosion. In markets with a population of more than one million, weekly print audiences declined slightly, 2.8%, from 9.05 million in the 2012 study to 8.80 million in 2013. In the top 10 markets, weekly print readership fell 2.4%, from 10.63 million to 10.37 million.
“Newspapers continue to offer Canadians the quality content they are looking for,” said Crassweller in a release. “The stability in readership is due to strong newspaper brands broadening their distribution of content across new digital platforms.”
Weekly print readership ranged from a high of 83% of the market population in Summerside, P.E.I., to a low of 66% in Edmonton. However, 58% of the population continues to read newspaper print products exclusively, compared with 10% for digital-only consumption, and 32% for combined print/digital readership.
In the top 10 markets, total weekly readership ranged from a high of 82% in Winnipeg to a low of 68% in Kitchener, Ont.
