Post eats into Globe market : survey

The Globe and Mail, which markets itself as Canada's "national newspaper", has some serious competition across the country, according to a long-awaited national survey.

The results of the Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) survey, released Friday, indicate that the year-old National Post is running close behind the Globe in 16 cities.

In Vancouver the Post has a higher circulation, according to NADbank.

Nationally, the Globe is still ahead with a total readership of about 1.7 million each week. The NADBank estimates about 1.5 million people read the Post each week.

The figures are considered important because changes in circulation can cause dramatic swings in advertising revenue.

But the NADbank warns the numbers should be considered in context, given the marketplace at the time the survey was conducted.

"We have to remember that the paper has only been in the marketplace a short time when we started measuring, and consumers and readers haven't had a chance to really evaluate their choices yet," says Anne Ruta, NADbank's executive director.

Both the Globe and the Post have awaited the readership numbers, hoping to see their own counts on circulation -- a different statistic -- backed up.

The Post has claimed a paid circulation just shy of 300,000 while the Globe boasts 330,000 subscribers.

There had been no consensus on the real readership figures because of the number of free papers and trial subscriptions offered as the two papers fight for the newspaper reading audience.

Although Ruta wouldn't go in to specifics, she told CBC NewsOnline there had been an overall reduction in the Globe's readership since the Post hit the newsstand.

The NADbank figures come one day after Hollinger Inc., the holding company behind the National Post has released its financial results.

Hollinger says so far this year losses for the National Post have hit $37 million.