National Post (National Edition)
National Post boasts growing readership
TORONTO• The National Post now boasts a combined weekly print and digital readership of 4.5 million, according to a new study by Vividata.
The Post also boosted its weekly Canada-wide print readership by four per cent in the first quarter of 2016 to 2.2 million. That included a two-per-cent increase of weekly print readership in Toronto, and significant boosts of 20 per cent in Edmonton and 15 per cent in Montreal, as well as boosts of six per cent in Ottawa and five per cent in Calgary.
Part of the explanation for the increase outside of Toronto comes from an expansion strategy by the news- paper, which saw branded national and world sections included in major regional papers owned by its parent company, Postmedia Inc.
The expansion launched last September with the Edmonton Journal and the Windsor Star, and since has rolled out to a total of nine markets including the Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen and Calgary Herald.
Among these papers, The Post has emerged as the digital powerhouse of the Postmedia network, which has the highest readership of any Canadian newspaper group, with 1 0 .7 million weekly print and digital readers, according to Vividata’s numbers. Of Postmedia’s 6.1 million weekly digital readers, 3.1 million come from the National Post.
By comparison, Torstar Corp. has 8.7 million weekly print and digital readers across Canada, including 3.5 million digital readers. In addition to the Toronto Star, Torstar publishes the Hamilton Spectator, the Waterloo Region Record and the free commuter paper Metro in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax.
The Globe and Mail — which has the largest readership of any single newspaper in Canada — reaches 6.4 million weekly print and digital readers, according to the study. The Globe is fully owned by The Woodbridge Company Ltd., which also has a controlling stake in Thomson Reuters.
Last year, Postmedia substantially increased its audience when it acquired 175 publications, including the Sun chain of tabloids, from Quebecor Media Inc. for $316 million.
Postmedia also acquired the Vancouver and Toronto editions of the commuter paper 24 Hours. The Toronto edition of 24 Hours has seen a double-digit increase of 12 per cent in Monday-Friday print readership. This comes on the heels of a July 2015 distribution deal with Gateway Newstands that put the paper in 90 TTC and GO transit stations across the Greater Toronto Area.
According to numbers Vividata released in May, more than half of newspaper readership in Canada accesses content on multiple platforms, and cross-platform readership of digital content in Canada has grown more than four times since 2012.
The survey also shone a light on reading habits of millennials. On the average week, daily newspapers reach 77 percent of millennials (18-34 year olds) and 85 percent of adults 50-plus. Digital and cross platform readership is strongest among millennials, at 38 percent, 18 percent higher than for adults 50-plus.
To that end, the combined Postmedia network draws the largest number of weekly digital readers at 6.1 million, while Torstar brings in 4.3 million. The Globe and Mail has the largest digital readership of any single newspaper, with 4.5 million. By itself, The National Post reaches 3.2 million.
Vividata’s survey was created last October after the amalgamation of media analysis firms NADbank and the Print Measurement Bureau. It replaces separate newspaper and magazine surveys that were conducted by the previous companies.
THE DIGITAL POWERHOUSE OF THE POSTMEDIA NETWORK.