Magazine & Newspaper Readership Continues Increase

Print Delivers the Numbers

Magazine and Newspaper Readership Continues to Increase

The strength of the print industry has once again been demonstrated with the release of the latest Nielsen Media Research (NMR) National Readership Survey, for the period July 2001 to June 2002.

“As was the case with the last release in February the majority of publications have seen an increase in readers in both percentage terms and in the total numbers of people,” said Nick Jones, Executive Director, Nielsen Media Research. “This is great news for both magazines and newspapers. It clearly demonstrates the importance of print media in our busy lives,” he added.

In newspapers, the number of people reading increased for most metropolitan newspapers. This growth was driven particularly by the increase of female readers.

Overall, readership of daily newspapers has returned to levels last seen in 1999 with 8 out of 10 people aged 15 years and over reading a daily newspaper in an average week.

The Sunday newspaper market remains strong, with significant year on year growth.

The magazine market has again recorded growth across the majority of publications and categories. Mass circulation titles have driven this growth, with 9 out of the top 10 titles having an increase in their readership. Categories experiencing strong growth include Motoring (+25%), Home/Garden/Entertaining (+13%), Women’s Lifestyle (+10%) and Women’s Weeklies (+5%). Once again, the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly remains the number one read magazine in the country.

The survey has also been a great result for Nielsen Media Research. As the industry preferred supplier, NMR is subject to a huge amount of scrutiny and is independently audited.

“We have invested a lot of time and effort in ensuring that the National Readership Survey is second to none in the providing our clients with the highest quality print research that the market can afford,” Jones said.

NMR is also delivering three new services into the market.

“In addition to improving the base research we have worked with our clients to make this release the beginning of a new era in print research in New Zealand. This is the first release of an official currency for the metropolitan newspapers in the mid year report. The Newspaper Advertising Bureau have agreed to release generic section and topic readership for newspapers, and we have developed a stand-alone six month summary report,” added Jones.

These developments, along with a faster reporting cycle, mean that NMR are providing more timely and relevant information to the market.

ENDS

Nielsen Media Research is part of the VNU Media Measurement & Information Group, the global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries. The Group serves the information and marketing needs of the television and radio broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, media planners, music companies, publishers, motion-picture studios, distributors and exhibitors, and the Internet industry. The Media Measurement & Information Group is part of VNU, one of the world’s leading media and information companies. VNU employs more than 38,000 people and has annual revenues of more than EUR 4.3 billion. For further information, visit http://www.vnu.com or http://www.acnielsen.co.nz.

*Source: Nielsen Media Research National Readership Survey June 2001 to July 2002

Based on 12,000, fully national, face-to-face interviews conducted among the population 10 years and over between July 2001 and June 2002.
Independently audited and approved by Datum Consultants.

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