More than 75% of Canadian Adults Read Online and Print Newspapers

By: Jennifer Saba The Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) found that newspapers reach more than three quarters of Canadian adults.

The organization -- the Canadian equivalent of the Audit Bureau of Circulations -- revealed that 13.9 million adults read a printed edition of a daily newspaper each week in 2007.

Online readership grew 11% since 2006 -- 17% of adults read an online newspaper last year.

Taken together, both the print and online editions reach 78% of adults each week.

The NADbank measures readership for 82 Canadian dailies and two dailies in Detroit in 54 markets across Canada.

Breaking down the data further, 50% of all adults read a newspaper yesterday and 26% said they read a newspaper last Sunday.

Smaller markets in Canada have higher readership percentages according to the NADbank. The top five markets by reach (based on the average weekday): Cape Breton, Summerside, New Glasgow, Charlottetown, and Truro.

In the top 10 markets, adults in Winnipeg read the weekly print edition more than any other market with a reach of 82%. Toronto's weekday reach is 73%, Ottawa-Gatineau is 77%, Montreal is 74%, and Vancouver is 75%.

NADbank found that adults in St. John's Newfoundland read online newspapers more than adults in other markets. Twenty-seven percent of adults there read a newspaper online.

Ottawa-Gatineau also has a high online readership reach at 24% while Toronto is at 22%.

The Toronto Star has the highest weekly readership in that market reaching 50% of adults. In Montreal La Presse reaches 31% of adults on a weekly basis -- more than any other paper in that market. The Ottawa Citizen reaches the most in its market with 54%. The Province and Vancouver Sun are neck in neck in Vancouver at 46% and 47% reach respectively.

The free dailies continue to grow, according to NADbank reaching 28% of adults in Toronto, 25% in Montreal, 30% in Vancouver, and 22% in Ottawa-Gatineau.