Irish Examiner well ahead of the rest in readership in Munster

The Irish Examiner has consolidated its dominant position in the Cork and Munster markets over the past 12 months and has increased its national daily print market share.

Latest Joint National Readership Survey (JNRS) figures, for 2014, show a total of 222,000 people nationally read the newspaper, in either print or online format, every day last year. The newspaper’s online offering grew substantially, according to the latest data, with readership climbing by 85%.

In Munster, the Irish Examiner attracted 194,000 print and online readers during the year. It currently has 12,000 more print readers in the region than the Irish Independent and Irish Times, combined.

Furthermore, it has as many readers in Cork as all the other domestic daily titles combined.

On a national basis, the Irish Examiner increased its share of the daily print newspaper market by 1%. This was achieved as it suffered the smallest decline in print readership. Separately, ABC figures covering the second half of last year show 34,424 copies of the Irish Examiner were bought per day.

The latest readership data shows the ongoing popularity of newspapers as a source of information, according to the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI). Nearly four out of five adults read newspapers, in varying forms, every day last year. Increases in online editions are offsetting small declines in print readership.

“Readers are accessing that content via multi-platforms and this is reflected in the continued growth of online readership. Online saw double-digit growth again this year and this trend is expected to continue. High crossover between the platforms continues with seven out of 10 online readers also reading newspapers in print,”said Dara McMahon, NNI co-ordinating director.

“National Newspapers of Ireland is delighted to see total readership in Ireland is very strong with 82% of adults reading newspapers in print and online regularly. NNI brands employ over 2,000 editorial staff.

“Every day these talented journalists produce quality and diverse content. When it comes to insight, depth, credibility, colour, carefully researched and expertly written news, analysis and opinion, nothing comes close to newspaper journalism,” Ms McMahon added.