Newspaper readership - and the financial health of the newspaper publisher - has been in the headlines for the last several weeks. Papers across the US have folded, merged, or moved online. Things seem to be a little more under control "up north."

NADbank (Newspaper Audience Databank), the research arm of the Canadian daily newspaper industry, released the results of its annual readership survey - the NADbank 2008 Study - and there's good news. People read newspapers in Canada.

According to the report, weekly readership has remained stable indicating that daily newspapers continue to be a relevant source of news and information for Canadians. Almost three-fourths of adults over 18 read a printed edition of a daily newspaper each week. Daily newspaper readership remains stable in the top 19 markets across Canada, and the total number of readers in those same markets remained relatively unchanged from 2007.

The key results:

• 73% of adults read a printed edition of a daily newspaper each week


• 19% of Canadians read a daily paper online in a typical week, an increase of 13% since 2007


• 4% read newspapers exclusively online

(Click on the image above for a larger view.)

(Click on the image above for a larger view.)

The NADbank 2008 Study provides newspaper readership data for 82 daily newspapers in 54 markets and 58 community newspapers in 33 markets across Canada.

Get your copy of the report overview and download a presentation from NADbank to get all the details.