NADbank, the company that surveys newspaper readership, released its 2012 survey results on Wednesday. In general, it shows that online readership of newspapers in Canada is growing as print readership is declining, and that is reflected in the numbers for the Montreal market.
Comparing last year’s numbers to this year’s for the Montreal market, there isn’t much change. The Journal de Montréal is still tops in most categories, with La Presse behind it. And Metro still beats 24 Heures in print and online, despite the fact that 24 Heures is distributed in the metro system.
I’ve compiled the numbers into a chart below. Red shows declines in real numbers, green shows gains. Bolded numbers are where there has been a change in rank. In the first case, it shows that for average combined print and online readership on weekdays, The Gazette has gone back ahead of 24 Heures after slipping behind it last year.
The huge gains online have also shaken things up. The Journal de Montréal more than doubled its online readership in a year, bringing it ahead of The Gazette for second place (though still only about a half of La Presse), and Metro has climbed ahead of the National Post for 5th place behind the Globe and Mail.
Overall, weekday print readership has continued to decline, with four of the five local dailies showing double-digit declines. Saturday was especially bad, with declines ranging from 11% for La Presse to 31% for the National Post. But thanks to the gains in online, every paper has a larger weekly reach than it did a year ago (except The Gazette, which is exactly the same), so everyone can claim gains here.
You’ll notice that Le Devoir is not included in this chart because its numbers weren’t published by NADbank. According to the Journal de Montréal, Le Devoir had a total weekly audience of 226,900, which puts it last among the local dailies.
Newspaper readership in Montreal
| Paper | Any paper | The Gazette | Journal de Montréal | La Presse | Metro | 24 Heures | Globe and Mail | National Post |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. weekday print 2011 | 1,484,100 | 283,300 (5th) | 597,900 (1st) | 436,500 (2nd) | 349,700 (3rd) | 312,300 (4th) | 40,900* (6th) | 28,200* (7th) |
| Avg. weekday print 2012 | 1,381,600 (-7%) | 239,300 (-16%) | 532,400 (-11%) | 438,100 (+0.4%) | 311,400 (-11%) | 252,900 (-19%) | 35,400 (-13%) | 29,700 (+5%) |
| Avg. weekday print/digital 2011 | 1,594,200 | 308,700 (5th) | 617,500 (1st) | 525,600 (2nd) | 352,900 (3rd) | 316,800 (4th) | 64,600 (6th) | 31,200* (7th) |
| Avg. weekday print/digital 2012 | 1,742,900 (+9%) | 298,300 (-3%) (up to 4th) | 612,800 (-1%) | 689,800 (+31%) | 325,900 (-8%) | 263,400 (-17%) (drops to 5th) | 80,300 (+24%) | 57,500 (+84%) |
| At least one weekday 2011 | 2,163,900 | 464,200 (5th) | 1,077,700 (1st) | 722,100 (3rd) | 789,700 (2nd) | 637,000 (4th) | 122,000 (6th) | 78,700 (7th) |
| At least one weekday 2012 | 2,124,400 (-2%) | 439,900 (-5%) | 1,085,400 (+0.7%) | 761,200 (+5%) | 812,900 (+3%) | 652,800 (+2%) | 108,800 (-11%) | 73,600 (-6%) |
| Saturday print 2011 | 1,362,700 | 318,900 (3rd) | 617,300 (1st) | 552,400 (2nd) | N/A | N/A | 50,200 (4th) | 37,200 (5th) |
| Saturday print 2012 | 1,164,500 (-15%) | 268,300 (-16%) | 513,400 (-17%) | 489,300 (-11%) | N/A | N/A | 40,200 (-20%) | 25,500 (-31%) |
| Sunday print 2011 | 407,900 | N/A | 407,900 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Sunday print 2012 | 372,600 (-9%) | N/A | 372,600 (-9%) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Print at least once a week 2011 | 2,266,400 | 498,000 (5th) | 1,163,800 (1st) | 820,100 (2nd) | 789,700 (3rd) | 637,000 (4th) | 132,200 (6th) | 84,900 (7th) |
| Print at least once a week 2012 | 2,220,500 (-2%) | 465,900 (-6%) | 1,164,300 (+0.04%) | 834,900 (+2%) | 812,900 (+3%) | 652,800 (+2%) | 122,700 (-7%) | 77,900 (-8%) |
| Web at least once a week 2011 | 578,800 | 144,000 (2nd) | 111,500 (3rd) | 293,800 (1st) | 36,300* (6th) | 35,200* (7th) | 78,500 (4th) | 50,200 (5th) |
| Web/digital at least once a week 2012 | 1,155,600 (+100%) | 177,500 (+23%) (drops to 3rd) | 252,700 (+127%) (up to 2nd) | 553,000 (+88%) | 67,600 (+86%) (up to 5th) | 50,100 (+42%) | 98,200 (+25%) | 61,600 (+23%) (drops to 6th) |
| Print or web average week 2011 | 2,370,800 | 554,800 (5th) | 1,188,300 (1st) | 941,200 (2nd) | 796,600 (3rd) | 648,200 (4th) | 186,600 (6th) | 117,200 (7th) |
| Print or web average week 2012 | 2,505,200 (+6%) | 554,800 (unch.) | 1,276,600 (+7%) | 1,104,700 (+17%) | 844,000 (+6%) | 674,800 (+4%) | 207,300 (+11%) | 128,900 (+10%) |
* Small sample size
We’re all number one!
And the self-congratulatory press releases/stories:
- The Gazette (my employer) says its readership is stable and online growing significantly
- The Journal de Montréal says it’s number one for the 27th year in a row, and points out how much it’s still ahead of La Presse (see also an article in the paper from its publisher)
- La Presse says it’s growing while the Journal is declining, and also emphasizes that it’s number one online
- Metro says it’s the uncontested leader, which is an odd thing to say for a third-place paper and a fifth-place website
- 24 Heures says it’s growing in total audience and throws in some demographics
- In Quebec City, Le Soleil says it’s going up while its competitor the Journal de Québec is going down.
- Meanwhile, the Journal de Québec points out that it’s still number one.
Happy to be one of 16% that has left ya this year. The Gazette. A crappy newspaper getting yet, even crappier. […] The paper really has gone way downhill on his watch. [Ed: This comment has been edited to remove a personal attack. Feel free to criticize my employer, but please don’t call people names. Thanks.]