The numbers are in, and the biannual Print Measurement Bureau’s (PMB) 2010 Spring survey indicates that readership levels are remaining consistent.
Sampling 99 Canadian magazine titles – including, for the first time, Hello! Canada and Zoomer – average readership came in at 1.04 million, incrementally less than the 2009 fall tally of 1.05 million, and a slight increase over last spring’s survey of 1.03 million.
When it comes to Canadian reading habits, the PMB has discovered that more time is being spent on the print editions of magazines (42.1 minutes, compared with 40 minutes in 2006) with an average of 4.82 readers per copy across all titles, a slight increase over the 4.8 reported in the PMB fall 2009 survey.
Top circulation honours were once again grabbed by CAA at 1,539,000, with its second consecutive increase in distribution, this time with 15,000 more copies. Runner-up finisher what’s cooking lost some slight ground at 3,541,000 as it dropped 22,000. At 1,303,000 copies, third place finisher Westworld/Going Places inched up its circulation by 2,000, while fourth place Reader’s Digest registered a 22,000 copy loss. Rounding out fifth place is Famous, holding steady at 650,000.
Quebec stats revealed Touring maintaining its lead with a healthy increase of 20,000 copies to 721,000, with second-place Qu’est-ce qui mijote losing 31,000 in distribution since the fall with 544,000. At 374,000 copies, third place finishers Primeurs also suffered a slight post-autumn loss of 6,000.
Reader’s Digest led in readership (12+) at 6,360,000, registering its third consecutive drop as another 63,000 readers abandoned the RD ship. Canadian Living came in second at 3,979,000, rallying with a substantial 179,000 readership increase since the fall, while Chatelaine – at 3,562,000 – also had reason to celebrate with its own modest increase of 13,000. People, with 3,542,000 and what’s cooking with 3,541,000 – up a dynamic 118,000 in readership – round out the top five.
Qu’est-ce qui mijote led Quebec readership numbers with 1,372,000 – a drop of 10,000 – followed by Coup de pouce at 1,221,000 with a 15,000 decrease of its own. Touring (Fr. + Eng.) at 1,113,000 maintained its third place position, but it too suffered, with a loss of 26,000 readers.
The PMB 2010 spring study sampled approximately 25,000 Canadians conducted over 24 months.
