The Gulf News Media Audit
Posted on 18 March 2009 with no comments from readers
The UAE National Media Analysis print survey by Ipsos MediaCT is an annual independent exercise in transparency, and perhaps unsurprisingly its main sponsor Gulf News emerges as the No1 print media in the country with almost 50 per cent of daily English language readers.
Advertisers justly rate the Gulf News as a media. The research shows 75 per cent of the English-speaking population read a daily paper (around 1.5 million readers), and the runner-up, Khaleej Times is read by 29 per cent.
Smaller readerships
Thereafter the tiny readerships are evident: 7 Days 8.5 per cent; The National 8.1 per cent; Gulf Today 6.7 per cent; and Emirates Business 24/7 the lowest at 3.8 per cent.
Yet do 750,000 people a day actually read the Gulf News with its audited circulation of a little over 100,000 copies? A pass-on readership rate of 7.5 is pretty high, and this would include people who just glance at the front page.
It was also revealing to see the breakdown of the average monthly income of Gulf News readers’ households; only 10.4 per cent earn more than $5,000 per month or $60,000 per annum; and at the other end of the scale 10.6 per cent earn less than $1,000 a month or $12,000 per annum.
This might be a bit of a shock for high-end brand advertisers who could be looking for rather more wealthy readers. But then you always have to consider the alternatives and for mass print media the Gulf News has it sewn up.
Moving online?
The survey did not give any figures for websites but you can judge these from the alexa.com statistics which again put the Gulf News out front, followed by the websites AME Info and ArabianBusiness.com.
Over time you might expect to see a migration of readers from the printed to online format of Gulf News, although there is little evidence from the circulation to suggest that. Online classified adverts are fully integrated with the physical paper, and it is arguable that the two media reinforce rather than compete with each other.
So if Gulf News remains dominant, where does that leave its rivals? It has to be said that in the current market environment you have to wonder if they all have a future.
