Gulf News stays ahead of competition

Dubai: Do you want to stay ahead of the game? Yes, then you most definitely must be reading Gulf News. That is what our latest print readership survey by Ipsos MediaCT in the UAE says.

The numbers are audited and the result of face-to-face interviews with 4,070 people across the country from March to July 2012.

The report shows that 50.7 per cent of all non-Arabs in the UAE read Gulf News. And the profile of these readers show them to be from across age groups, gender and job roles including entrepreneurs, managers, specialised professionals and employees.

The competitor that comes closest in this category is Khaleej Times at 27.2 per cent, followed by 7Days at 10 per cent, The National at 9.9 per cent, Sport 360 at 9.8 per cent and The Gulf Today at 2.8 per cent.

So, yes, moving ahead of the curve is what the newspaper is doing by maintaining its presence and building on the market base consistently.

Most newspapers around the world tend to fall into a segment of readership. In the case of Gulf News and its supplementary products including tabloid!, Classifieds, Freehold, Appointments and Properties, the consumption range is widespread. It is considered a reference point by households with monthly incomes that are less than Dh4,000 to those in the bracket of Dh40,000 and above. A similar range is seen even across educational levels of readership. What does that say for the newspaper? Five out of every 10 non-Arab readers of English dailies rely on the newspaper as a key source of information about the country, region and the world.

Gulf News has not fallen into any stereotyped reader bracket — its appeal as a trustworthy source of information exists across the population.

Statistics

This fact is reinforced by the readership statistics that look at the gender spread — it is almost equal, 52.2 per cent of non-Arab males read the newspaper, while the reach among female readers is 45.7 per cent.

This market leadership holds sway even in the area of magazines. Friday has 41.3 per cent of the non-Arab readership. The closest competitor is Weekend at 20.9 per cent, Read at 4.5 per cent and Panorama at 0.9 per cent.

Gulf News, its supplementary products and Friday magazine, have through the Ipsos MediaCT survey shown their reach without a shadow of doubt, further cemented by cumulative figures for individual emirates.

As per the results, 52.3 per cent of non-Arabs in Abu Dhabi read Gulf News, 46.1 per cent in Dubai, 52.5 per cent in Sharjah, 59 per cent in Ajman, 46.9 per cent in Fujairah, 54.6 per cent in Ras Al Khaimah and 55.9 per cent in Umm Al Quwain. The closest competitor is Khaleej Times with a difference of more than 15 per cent in each emirate, with the exception of Umm Al Quwain.

These results are a testament to the publishing house’s commitment to consistently deliver quality and innovation to its readers.