Newspapers still relevant in online age: study

OTTAWA - We may be living in a digital age but a new national newspaper readership survey suggests that the majority of Canadians still like to get their news from a newspaper -- even if that paper is online.

The Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) study for 2009 suggests 77% of Canadians read a print or online edition of a newspaper at least once a week, numbers that remain fairly steady across all age groups.

The NADbank numbers provide readership results for 81 Canadian daily newspapers in 53 markets across the country, as well as for 60 community papers in 33 markets. The study gives a snapshot of the readership habits of 72% of Canadian adults, the group says.

Among other results, the study found that 47% of adults aged 18 and over read the print version of a daily newspaper most weekdays, while 73% of those polled had read a paper in the past week. Speaking strictly of online editions, 22% said they read a daily paper online in the past week, while 77% had read either a printed or online edition.

The demographics of newspaper readers defy the common wisdom that young people have no interest in newspapers, with 78% of respondents aged 18-24 saying they'd read either a print or online edition of a newspaper in the past week. The age group with the lowest percentage of newspaper readers is 25-34, but even there 72% read a newspaper at least once a week. People aged 50-64 were the most avid readers, at 81%.

Higher-paid and university-educated Canadians are the most likely to read a newspaper, but 78% of blue-collar respondents also said they read newspapers each week.

News is the first section all readers turn to, with 73% saying they usually read local news, and 59% reading national and international news as well. After that, the favourite sections break down by age, with those aged 18-49 accessing arts and entertainment next, followed by sports, health, business and editorial pages. Those aged 50 and up went to the editorial section after the news, and then entertainment, health news, food and business.

"This is great news for our advertisers," says Kirk Allen, senior vice-president of publishing sales at Canwest LP. The publisher of 10 of the daily newspapers in the study saw its weekly readership grow by 2.1% to four million, and weekly online readership was up 20% overall.

"Canadian marketers can continue to rely upon the strong readership and reach across the country they have come to expect from our dailies.