What is the difference between Circulation and Readership

Advertising Tips - Circulation vs. Readership

By Tim Collins - Publisher - Chapel Hill News & Views. Tim Collins has been in the advertising business since 1983. In addition to publishing Chapel Hill News & Views, he has also published a yellow pages, a newspaper, sold radio advertising, operated a flyer business, and had numerous other ventures in the advertising field.

One of the most important concepts to understand when choosing a print media to advertise your business is to understand the difference between circulation and readership. Most publications tout their circulation, but there are a few that will instead use readership as a way to attempt to persuade businesses to advertise with them.

What is the difference? Circulation is the actual number of copies printed and distributed. It is an exact number that can be verified easily. Readership is a much less easily defined number, and one that can be misleading. For example, when searching the Internet to find out what the average number of readers per copy of a publication was nationally, I came across one website (Circulation Verification Council) that said the national average for readers per edition was 1.75*. Another site for a magazine called the Monitor claimed their study showed a readership of 2.25. A third site operated by McPheters and Company claimed that paid circulation magazines generally had a readership of 4 or less per copy, but that magazines left in a public place could have a readership as high as 50 readers per copy. So, just based on the wide ranging estimates within the industry concerning readership, a publication which focuses solely on readership should have a very detailed survey to back up their claims. If the publication is new, this would truly be impossible.

Using the figures above, if I was someone with little scruples, I could say Chapel Hill News & Views has a readership of 520,000 even though our circulation is really 38,000. I could get this figure by multiplying 50 readers per copy for each of the 8,000 copies we leave in public places, such as doctors offices, then add 4 times each of the 30,000 copies we deliver to homes. Obviously this is quite an inflated figure, since the population of Douglas County is just above 100,000.

Readership is impossible to calculate for a particular publication, unless that publication has actually invested in a survey about their publication with a large enough sample size to be statistically accurate. The survey should be conducted by a reputable company not connected to that publication.

Readership will vary tremendously depending on the type of publication. For example, if I distributed 40,000 copies of a magazine devoted to the manufacturing of steel beams to homes in Douglas County, one can imagine that the readership would be pathetically low. It would be a stretch, to say the least, that 4 people per household would even open the magazine, let alone read more than a few sentences of it.

Therefore, the first question to ask an advertising salesman who is quoting readership instead of circulation is to ask "How many copies of the magazine or newspaper are actually printed and delivered?" It will probably be somewhere between one half and one fourth of the readership figure they are quoting, if they answer truthfully. There is probably a good reason (from their perspective) that they are not open about the number of copies they actually produce and distribute. I would also advise in a case like this that it would be a good idea to get some type of statement, for example something from the printer or a postal receipt(if it is mailed) to verify that what they are telling you is truthful.

SOURCES:
*http://www.cvcaudit.com/about/newsletter/article.asp?aid=11
** http://mcpheters.com/news/copy.htm