With a 25 percent gain in readership over last year, Metro has strengthened its grip as the most-read daily newspaper among adults aged 21-49 in Greater Boston, according to new figures that were just released.
According to market research company Scarborough, Metro has gained more than 50,000 daily readers in the last year, and for the first time ever, reaches more than half a million readers in Boston every week.
These figures show that Metro’s continued focus on exciting editorial content and precise distribution translate into success, especially at a time when the Herald lost nearly 100,000 daily readers – a decrease of 20 percent year over year.
“Metro’s audience is stronger than ever,” said Yggers Mortensen, Metro U.S. publisher and CEO. “We continue to grow, innovate and find new ways to engage Bostonians and deliver impact to advertisers both in print and online.”
In the past few months, Metro re-launched its website, metro.us, redesigned its print editions and introduced new interactive features such as Blippar, a new augmented reality app.
Metro’s forward-thinking initiatives are what has made it attractive to a younger demographic. According to Scarborough, with a median age of 34 years, Metro has the youngest reader profile in the Hub – 21 years younger than the Boston Herald. In addition, 73 percent of Metro readers are employed, and 53 percent identify as white collar.
Fun facts about Metro Boston readers
- 58 percent are single and 38 percent have children
- 54 precent are white collars and 19 percent are blue collars
- 31 percent cycled in the past year
- 20 percent practiced yoga / pilates in the past year
- 27percent belong to a health/fitness club
- 84percent recycle glass, plastic, paper
- 23percent pay more for eco-friendly products and services
- 41percentattended a professional sports event in the past year
- 31percent went to the movie theater in the past month
- 20percent attended a Boston Red Sox game vs. 13 percent who attended a Boston Celtic game
- 24percent visited New York in the past year vs. 21 percentwho visited Cape Cod
- 27 percentwent to the casino in the past year
- 25 percentdrank vodka in the past month vs. 8 percentwho drank bourbon whiskey
- Their three favorite beers are Bud Light, Corona Extra and Samuel Adams
- 58 percentwent to a Chinese restaurant in the past month vs. 18 percentwho went to Mexican restaurant
- 23 percentdrank Coca-Cola in the past week vs. 22% who drank Pepsi
- 29 percenthave a cat vs. 17 percentwho have a dog
- 74 percentsubscribe to Cable TV and 51 percentsubscribes to premium channels
- 50 percentfeel closer to Democrats vs. 19 percentwho feel closer to Republicans
- On average, they spend 1 hour 26 minutes and 24 seconds on social media every day and send 27 text messages yesterday
- 32 percentplan to look for a new job this year*
- 16,822 plan to buy a house or condo this year*
- 7,096 plan to get married this year*
- 80 percenthave an HDTV*
- 50 percenthave a smartphone and 41% of a tablet*
- 24 percenthave a Samsung phone vs. 21% who have an iPhone*
- 15 percentplan to buy a tablet and 13% plan to buy a smartphone this year*
- 25 percentplan to buy furniture this year*
- 25 percentplan to change wireless/cell phone carrier this year*
Source: Scarborough R1 2013 * Current period
