Media buying: Print up close (Part 2)

Which would you use to measure the effectiveness of the print medium? Circulation or readership?

There are two schools of thought in measuring the effectiveness of the print medium. One is circulation, which is based on the number of copies of each publication. The other one is readership, which is based on surveys that ask the general population what they read. And there is a continuing debate on this issue. Publications and their advertisers have been taking one side at one time and the other side at other times over the years. So, what’s the fuss really all about?

First, let’s have a clear definition of terms. Circulation refers to the number of copies that a particular publication circulates in the market, hence the term “circulation”. There are a few other related terms and concepts to this:

1. Print run – or the actual number of copies printed by the printer printing the title
2. Paid circulation – the number of copies actually bought and paid for by readers
3. Subscription sales – number of copies prepaid by readers/subscribers who prefer to have their copies delivered to their doorsteps
4. Street sales – copies bought by readers at newsstands and from ambulant vendors
5. Returns – the number of copies left unsold by the normal end of the expected “shelf life” of the title. In the case of a daily newspaper, this is of course a daily item.
6. Free or complimentary copies – copies given away to advertisers and their agencies, and to other readers for promotional purposes
7. Net circulation – total print run minus total returns equals actual number of copies read by readers
8. Pass-on readers – readers who avail of the publication without paying for their copies, such as other family members, neighbors, and customers at retail outlets like coffee shops, barber shops, doctors’ clinics, and so on.
9. Total combined circulation reach – net circulation times average number of pass-on readers, to arrive at the total number of estimated readers.

Please note that we have been careful in using the term "reader" and not "readership" so as not to be confused with the other concept.

Now let us go to readership. Readership refers to the percentage of the population (or segment thereof) that has read the publication concerned. This area is technically the area of research and we will try to limit the discussion to non-technical terms as much as possible. Related terms and concepts would include:

1. Readership survey – the actual research or fieldwork done to determine what people read and how many of them read the publications concerned
2. Survey base – the number of respondents in the survey, usually a random sample that approximates the general population
3. Rating – a rating is a percentage point. One rating point is equal to one percent of the base. For example, if one percent of the respondents say they read “The Daily Planet” everyday, then we can say that one percent of the population reads that newspaper everyday.
4. Readership profile – respondents are normally classified according to the usual demographic segmentation standards: socio-economic class, age and gender, marital status, occupation, educational attainment, etc. Applying these data to the readers of a particular title, we can have a profile of the readers of the title.
5. Segment ratings – because we can isolate certain segments of the population/respondents based on their demographic data, we can have a more focused set of ratings for each of the demographic segments concerned, such as the top three titles among the AB class, or among teenage readers, or among housewives, and so on.
6. Other research considerations: frequency and/or incidence of readership – read yesterday, last week, etc.; where read – home, office, parlor, etc.; how many times the title is picked up to be read, and average length of time spent each time. For newspapers, specific sections or features frequently read: sports, lifestyle, fashion, travel, etc., or particular columnists or special editions.

Readership is obviously the richer base for making decisions about advertising on the print medium. But many advertisers are still stuck on the idea of “real numbers” – they ascribe greater value on circulation figures as opposed to the percentages of a readership survey. I personally recommend readership data over circulation as the basis for advertising-related decisions.

My reasons? First, circulation figures in this country are unaudited. Anybody can claim any number of copies in circulation. At best, they are guesstimates of the real circulation. At worst, they are grossly overstated claims. Second, having a copy on hand does not guarantee people will read it. Many people subscribe to daily deliveries of newspapers yet do not read every single copy. Third, most people do not read all the sections of a newspaper. Even if a copy of a given daily is available at a respondent’s home, we still need to conduct research to determine which sections of the newspaper they read – and who reads what section. Not even a circulation audit can answer that.

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