Dubai: Eight out of every ten non-Arab English language newspaper readers below the age of 44 in the UAE prefer Gulf News as their main news source, according to the latest market report.
The Ipsos MediaCT readership survey results for 2013 are in, and we continue to hold market sway.
This is consistent with the results published earlier this year, in January.
You might ask why is that such a big thing? What does it mean to continue to lead in the traditional print format when newspapers everywhere are shrinking, downsizing or closing down because the world is now at people’s fingertips?
For any journalist who has been in the field for the past two decades, he or she would’ve seen the global newspaper industry grow and devolve. In such an environment, Gulf News’ longevity is testimony to its ability to transmogrify with the need of the times.
Every experiment, innovation and evolution has been driven with one core purpose – to offer the reader a better experience. And that has paid off – we have young readership. The organisation paid heed to what people wanted and in return we have numbers that might change in demographics but does not alter in percentages. And that is something to be proud of in this day and age of shrinking economies.
The survey shows that 84.1 per cent of the newspaper’s readers are from the 15 to 44 years age bracket. Added to this is the fact that above 65 per cent of Gulf News readers are university educated.
The results are based on 5,425 face-to-face interviews held from January to December of last year.
And the newspaper expects to continue increasing these numbers, as Managing Editor Mohammed Almezel explained: “We are honoured by the continuing vote of confidence and the trust that readers continue to put in us year after year. Gulf News promises to honour that trust and promises its readers that it will not only meet but also exceed their expectations by continuing to innovate and develop the fascinating reading experience while remaining the credible, comprehensive and authoritative source of news, views and information in the UAE and our region. “
Gulf News, the newspaper with the highest reach across all the cities in the UAE with the reach exceeding 40 per cent in almost all the emirates, will continue to deliver on its promise to its readers.
