10 Quick Facts About Community Newspaper Readership *
73% of Ontario adults read weekday community newspapers, or approximately 5.8 million Ontarians weekly - the single largest average reach of any media.
Readership is strong regardless of market size and despite the media options available, even in the media-crowded Toronto GTA. The further one moves from the core into the suburban areas, the higher the readership of community newspapers - at the expense of the dailies.
Readership is higher in Northern Ontario than anywhere in the province, delivering more than twice the reach of daily newspapers - 78% read their community newspaper, while only 35% read any daily.
Affluent communities are reading their community newspapers. Residents in markets such as Aurora, Markham, Brampton and Oakville are more likely to read a community newspaper than a daily.
Community newspapers deliver an exclusive audience – 29% read only community newspapers and not dailies. Further, 68% of adults not reading a daily are reading their community newspaper.
Weekday readership of community newspapers in Ontario exceeds tuning to all radio stations combined. And of those who don’t listen to radio, 74% are reading their community newspaper.
Higher income households read community newspapers - 70% of $50K+ households read community newspapers vs. only 49% who read dailies.
Women, who influence an average of 80% of all consumer purchases, are far more likely to be readers of community newspapers (74%) than daily newspapers (42%). The advantage is maintained among affluent women, women with children, the well-educated and the self-employed.
Community newspaper readers read almost every edition, most or all of each issue and they value the editorial content.
Paid vs. free distribution is not a factor in readership evidenced by the strong performance of community newspapers in markets with competing dailies.
