Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland Top Newspaper Reading Cities

Rochester, NY, is the top U.S. city for newspaper readership, according to a new analysis of Integrated Newspaper Audience (INA) data from Scarborough Research, a partnership between Arbitron and The Nielsen Company. A higher percentage of adults in Rochester, NY, are reading newspapers in print or online than in any other U.S. market. The INA of Rochester is 87% – meaning that 87% of adults in the Rochester DMA read a printed newspaper, a newspaper’s website, or did both during the past week. Following closely behind are Cleveland, OH and Buffalo, NY, each with an INA of 86%. In the 81 local markets measured by Scarborough, 75% of adults read the newspaper weekly in print or online.

“This data begs the question: is the constant negative news feed on the industry warranted when newspapers are actually being read by three-fourths of the adult population? When you look at audience data, it seems irrational that advertisers are leaving newspapers because the numbers speak for themselves,” said Gary Meo, senior vice president, print and digital media, Scarborough Research.