Thursday, Feb 04, 2010
Gulf News
Gulf News tops survey
By Anupa Kurian
Readers Editor
Dubai People are still reading newspapers and magazines. Over the past few years, media pundits would have us believe that print was just an obituary and online the only hope.
Many mourned the inevitable end of ink-stained pages. But, like the mythical bird that is born from its ashes every time, the printed medium has re-invented itself and survived. The naysayers will offer up a snigger and say: "You stand within his danger, do you not [The Merchant of Venice]?"
But the newspaper industry has decided to act. The result is a new age of journalism that sees print combine with online and other multimedia tools to create a leaner, meaner, faster and more effective medium. The written word lives on but in an exciting new format that engages readers better.
The latest Ipsos MediaCT Print Readership Survey in the UAE offers resounding proof of this. To quote the report: "Publication readership at almost 90 per cent is very high in the UAE." Nine out of 10 people read some form of print, with newspapers carving out the biggest chunk. Quite remarkable statistics.
Ipsos MediaCT carries out syndicated media research studies to monitor the media consumption habits of residents in the region. The Print Readership Survey is part of the National Media Analysis that includes 4,276 interviews over a six-month period. The fieldwork was done between January and June 2009.
Advertising is needed to make a newspaper affordable for readers and readers are what bring in the advertisers — a symbiotic relationship necessary to ensure that journalism continues to serve society.
Upheaval and economic pressure has been good for newspapers, magazines and media houses at large. They worked hard to engage the reader and embraced new media, to create a more comprehensive product.
Gulf News has always been the market leader in the UAE for newspaper readership among non-Arabs. However, complacency is not part of its make-up.
The media house seamlessly adopted and adapted to new media and today defines itself as a ‘news provider'. Evidence that this far-reaching strategy has worked is the survey results, which states that Gulf News is the only English language daily with nearly half or 43.2 per cent of the non-Arab market. The closest is Khaleej Times at 23.4 per cent, followed by The National at 16 per cent and 7 Days at 8.3 per cent.
The figures hold even if you divide the market based on age groups — the reach exceeds 40 per cent, be it the 25-years-olds or readers who are above 55 years.
In fact, the top five titles are all Gulf News publications including tabloid!, Appointments, Classifieds and Properties — leaders by far.
The magazine Friday has the highest readership among all English magazines and consistently has the highest reach across all age, income and education groups.
The dominance continues across readership based on gender — 43.1 per cent of non-Arab men and 43.3 per cent of non-Arab women read Gulf News.
Anita Raghu, an Indian expatriate based in Ras Al Khaimah, told the newspaper on hearing about the survey results: "Gulf News is a good newspaper. It covers all the news, offers value and has the right balance."
Women find the newspaper does not have any specific gender leaning.
Ava King from Sharjah, a French expatriate, said: "Newspapers very often have a male tone. But, with Gulf News I don't get that, which is great. It would definitely bring in more women readers; it is a lot less intimidating."
Yet another reader, Geoff Spears from New Zealand, said that he reads the newspaper from "cover to cover" every day.
"The newspaper is reader-friendly," he said. "But it could do with more sports coverage … the different kinds of sport such as rugby."
Croatian Ksenya Prekovic, who mainly follows gulfnews.com, finds "both the print and online editions offer substantial useful news about the UAE".
"The print offers me a different perspective, while the online edition gives me news fast. It also helps that there are videos and comments … gives me a great experience," added Andrew George, an Indian expatriate reader from Abu Dhabi.
By Anupa Kurian
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
