Vividata’s latest quarterly readership study shows that although some of Canada’s newspapers and magazines have seen digital growth, much of that growth has been modest and not enough to offset falling print readership.

The study released Jan. 25 uses rolling data over a 12-month period to determine the readership footprints of Canada’s publications.

Newspapers

The Globe and Mail held onto its title as the widest-reaching national newspaper. For Canadian audiences, the Globe boasted an average weekday footprint of 2.14 million, just slightly higher than the 2.13 million it recorded the previous quarter. Competitor National Post saw a small dip in reach, down to 1.40 million national readers from 1.43 the previous quarter.

Both those titles lost readers in print, with The Globe and Mail’s average print audience dipping below one million per weekday for the first time since Vividata introduced its combined readership studies in 2015. Nevertheless, both saw gains on the digital side, with National Post’s online audience growing by nearly 50,000 per weekday and the Globe’s growing by just over 40,000.

The trend of shrinking print audiences and moderately boosted digital audiences played true in every region with one key exception: Quebec. In that province (as well as in the city of Montreal), every major provincial daily grew its weekday print audience and most got a digital boost as well. Le Devoir charted the biggest gains in the province across both media with a 8.7% increase in print readership and a 5.2% increase on the digital side since the last report.

Notably absent from regional markets was Postmedia’s former free daily 24 Hours. The newspaper (which received a major readership boost in Toronto from its distribution deal with the TTC) was part of a recent high-profile transaction with Torstar (parent company of competitor Metro), which purchased it and subsequently shuttered it.

Magazines

Top titles with shrinking footprints included Reader’s Digest, Canadian Living, driven by lower print readership. Some still saw modest growth, including Cineplex Magazine and Canadian Geographic, which came purely from digital increases as both saw reductions in their print audience.

Many French magazines managed to either hold or boost their total reader footprint in the quarter, even if many did lose a bit of ground in print. Ricardo maintained its position as the most-read French magazine in terms of total readership, ranking second in print.

Due to changes in publication schedules and styles, Sportsnet, Canadian Business and Flare were no longer included as digital magazines (Vividata, however, continues to measure past-month readership for these titles under “websites and apps”).

Magazines (Canadians 12 and up)

English magazines: Average issue footprint, print and digital

1. Reader’s Digest: 4.36 million readers
2. Cineplex Magazine: 4.34 million readers
3. Live Better: 3.93 million readers
4. Canadian Living: 3.77 million readers
5. Canadian Geographic: 3.65 million readers

English magazines: Print reach, average issue

1. Reader’s Digest: 3.98 million readers
2. Cineplex Magazine: 3.55 million readers
3. Live Better: 3.46 million readers
4. Canadian Living: 3.3 million readers
5. Chatelaine: 3.01 million readers

French magazines: Average issue footprint, print and digital

1. Ricardo magazine: 1.78 million readers
2. CAA Quebec touring (French and English): 1.776 million readers
3. Coup de pouce: 1.35 million readers
4. Vivre mieux: 995,000 readers
5. Les affaires/Les affaires plus: 930,000 readers

French magazines: Print reach, average issue

1. CAA Quebec Touring (French and English): 1.61 million readers
2. Ricardo Magazine: 1.22 million readers
3. Coup de Pouce: 1.19 million readers
4. Bel Age Magazine: 854,000 readers
5. Vivre Mieux: 818,000 readers

English magazines: Digital reach, monthly

1. Maclean’s: 1.34 million readers
2. People: 1.31 million readers
3. Cineplex Magazine: 1.1 million readers
4. The Hockey News: 806,000 readers
5. Financial post Magazine: 747,000 readers

French magazines: Digital reach, monthly

1. Ricardo magazine: 673,000 readers
2. Les affaires/Les affaires plus: 381,000 readers
3. L’actualité: 323,000 readers
4. Coup de pouce: 210,000 readers
5. Le magazine cineplex: 170,000

Newspapers (Canadians 18 and up)

National newspapers: Print and digital reach, average weekday issue

1. The Globe and Mail: 2.14 million readers
2. National Post: 1.4 million readers

National newspapers: Print reach, average weekday issue

1. The Globe and Mail: 982,000 readers
2. National Post: 649,000 readers

National newspapers: Digital reach, average weekday issue

1. The Globe and Mail: 1.49 million readers
2. National Post: 929,000 readers

Ontario newspapers: Print and digital reach, average weekday issue

1. Toronto Star: 1.76 million readers
2. The Toronto Sun: 769,000 readers

Ontario newspapers: Print reach, average weekday issue

1. Toronto Star: 1.08 million readers
2. The Toronto Sun: 538,000 readers

Ontario newspapers: Digital reach, average weekday issue

1. Toronto Star: 934,000 readers
2. The Toronto Sun: 360,000 readers

Quebec newspapers: Print and digital reach, average weekday issue

1. Le journal de Montréal: 1.19 million readers
2. Le journal de Québec: 709,000 readers
3. Le devoir: 346,000 readers
4. Le soileil: 315,000 readers

Quebec newspapers: Print reach, average weekday issue

1. Le journal de Montréal: 863,000 readers
2. Le journal de Québec: 533,000 readers
3. Le soleil: 214,000 readers
4. Le devoir: 145,000 readers

Quebec newspapers: Digital reach, average weekday issue

1. La presse: 1.22 million readers
2. Le journal de Montréal: 562,000 readers
3. Le journal de Québec: 311,000 readers
4. Le devoir: 265,000 readers
5. Le soleil: 154,000 readers

Toronto newspapers: Print and digital reach, average weekday issue

1. The Toronto Star: 1.18 million readers
2. The Globe and Mail: 648,000 readers
3. Metro: 706,000 readers
4. The Toronto Sun: 574,000 readers
5. National Post: 384,000 readers

Toronto newspapers: Print reach, average weekday issue

1. Toronto Star: 771,000 readers
2. Metro: 639,000 readers
3. The Toronto Sun: 421,000 readers
4. The Globe and Mail: 356,000 readers
5. National Post: 203,000 readers

Toronto newspapers: Digital reach, average weekday issue

1. Toronto Star: 612,000 readers
2. The Globe and Mail: 421,000 readers
3. National Post: 271,000 readers
4. The Toronto Sun: 2460,000 readers
5. Metro: 154,000 readers

Montreal newspapers: Print and digital reach, average weekday issue

1. Le journal de Montréal: 687,000 readers
2. Métro: 410,000 readers
3. 24 heures: 375,000 readers
4. Montréal gazette: 234,000 readers
5. Le devoir: 190,000 readers

Montreal newspapers: Print reach, average weekday issue

1. Le journal de Montréal: 507,000 readers
2. Métro: 373,000 readers
3. 24 heures: 354,000 readers
4. Montréal gazette: 163,000 readers
5. Le devoir: 96,000 readers

Montreal newspapers: Digital reach, average weekday issue

1. La presse: 649,000 readers
2. Le journal de Montréal: 307,000 readers
3. Montréal gazette: 113,000 readers
4. Le devoir: 136,000 readers
5. Métro: 99,000 readers

Vancouver newspapers: Print and digital reach, average weekday issue

1. The Province: 406,000 readers
2. The Vancouver Sun: 401,000 readers
3. Metro: 310,000 readers
4. The Globe and Mail: 211,000 readers
5. National Post: 142,000 readers

Vancouver newspapers: Print reach, average weekday issue

1. The Province: 302,000 readers
2. Metro: 297,000 readers
3. The Vancouver Sun: 276,000 readers
4. The Globe and Mail: 84,000 readers
5. National Post: 79,000 readers

Vancouver newspapers: Digital reach, average weekday issue

1. The Vancouver Sun: 183,000 readers
2. The Province: 161,000 readers
3. The Globe and Mail: 159,000 readers
4. National Post: 83,000 readers
5. Metro: 50,000 readers

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