More than 79 per cent of senior business executives read The Irish Times each day, according to the latest statistics on business readership. This was the highest figure achieved by any newspaper in the Republic. Emmet Oliver reports.
The European Business Readership Survey (EBRS) found that readership among senior business figures of daily newspapers was generally down, although several Sunday newspapers managed to record increases.
The Irish Times was read by 79.2 per cent of senior business readers in the latest survey period, compared to 80.8 per cent in the 2002 survey.
The Irish Independent showed a decrease from 56.7 per cent to 52.7 per cent. The Irish Examiner, however, increased its business readership from 17.9 per cent to 22 per cent.
The Irish Times retained strong loyalty across the range of job functions surveyed, including accountants, legal professionals, general managers, purchasers, marketing professionals, sales staff, advertising staff, IT managers and R&D specialists.
The sample size for the survey was 323 senior business figures selected across a range of industries. The firms were selected based on the size of their turnover and the number they employ. The survey was carried out between February and July by British company Ispos.
The company describes the EBRS survey as one of the most accurate measures of Europe's business elite. "The survey covers senior decision makers at Europe's largest companies, who are collectively responsible for the vast majority of the region's business expenditure".
The survey shows Irish business readers consuming a wide variety of business titles. In the daily market, Irish papers remained remarkably resilient despite competition from British-owned titles. The Financial Times was the only major British title that managed a large-scale business readership, with 24 per cent of the sample reading it every day. This was down from 34.1 per cent in 2002.
Readership of the other British newspapers was mostly less than 3 per cent, although the Times of London had a 7 per cent readership figure.
In the Sunday market the most notable gain was made by the Sunday Times Irish edition. In 2002 39.7 per cent of senior business individuals read the title each week, but this has risen to almost 47 per cent.
The Sunday Business Post was read by 52.1 per cent of senior business figures in 2002, but has fallen to 48 per cent. The Sunday Tribune is read by just uunder 43 per cent of business executives, down from 47.6 two years ago.
However, the Sunday Independent, the biggest selling newspaper in the State, managed to increase from 54.2 per cent two years ago to 59 per cent now.
In the magazine sector, Business and Finance was read by 31 per cent of senior business people, a far higher figure than any other title in the area. However, this was down from 34.4 per cent in the 2002 survey.
The Economist was read by 17 per cent of respondents, down from 21.4 per cent two years ago. Business Plus was read by 17 per cent of those surveyed, up from 13.8 per cent in the last survey. Finance was read by 15 per cent of respondents, up from 13.7 per cent.
The survey also includes data on television viewing and website usage. The survey indicates that website usage remains relatively low among Irish business executives compared to some of their international counterparts.
The Irish Times website, ireland.com, was accessed at least once by 36 per cent of respondents in the four weeks before they were surveyed. The Irish Independent was accessed via the web by 17 per cent during the same period, while the Irish Examiner was accessed by 11 per cent of respondents during this period.
