English-language magazine readership levels remain steady, according to the spring 2011 top-line scores released today by the Print Measurement Bureau (Top 10 tables below the break). PMB has also announced it will begin measuring readership of digital editions, as distinct from web sites (e.g. iPad editions). PMB, through its partnership with ComScore, already measures combined print/web readership.

“Within the next year, we’ll be able to have print, web and digital edition readership in one database,” says PMB president Steve Ferley. “This is major.”

The new spring print numbers show that average English-language readers per copy has increased slightly, from 5.0 last spring to 5.1 this year. Average magazine readership is also steady at 1.3 million average readers across the 61 English-language magazines measured in PMB, the same figure as fall 2010, though a slight dip from 1.4 million in spring 2010.

Reader’s Digest continues its reign as the most-read magazine in the country, with a total readership of 5,932,000. However, this is a 6.7% decline from last spring’s PMB.

On the French side, Qu’est-ce qui mijote is tops again, with 1,254,000 readers, an 8.6% decline from last year. (The magazine is the French version of Kraft Canada’s What’s Cooking.)

PMB notes that average “time spent reading” has also remained stable, with this trend:

Spring 2011: 41.9 minutes
Fall 2010: 40.6 minutes
Spring 2010: 42.1 minutes
Fall 2009: 41.3 minutes

“Average degree of interest” on a scale of 1-10 has similarly remained stable, at 6.8, the same score for the past several PMBs.

“The continued commitment to magazines is evidenced across all age groups,” PMB adds in its release. “The PMB 2011 Spring data highlight an interesting point about magazine reading by younger Canadians. Readership among younger Canadians is at virtually the same level as with other age groups: on average, the 12-24s read 3.6 issues of PMB-measured titles per week — close to the national average of 3.8 issues.”

Top 10 English-language magazines (total readership per issue)

Title	PMB 2011	+/- change from 2010
Reader's Digest	5.932 million	-6.7%
Canadian Living	3.999 million	+0.5%
People	3.553 million	+0.3%
What's Cooking	3.454 million	-2.5%
Chatelaine	3.361 million	-5.6%
Canadian Geographic	3.309 million	-3.0%
Maclean's	2.405 million	+1.5%
Canadian House & Home	2.327 million	-1.5%
Canadian Gardening	2.276 million	+19.8%
CAA Magazine	2.264 million	-5.1%

  
Food & Drink, the magazine published by the LCBO in Ontario, has fallen off the Top 10 since last spring. Canadian Gardening has joined the Top 10 at no. 9.

Top 10 English-language magazines (readers per copy)

Title	PMB 2011	PMB 2010
Canadian Health	32.6	33.7
People	21.4	21.1
The Hockey News	19.2	23.2
Outdoor Canada	17.0	16.3
Canadian Geographic	16.0	16.2
Canadian Gardening	16.0	12.4
FASHION Magazine	11.9	12.5
Canadian Business	11.8	12.8
Cottage Life	11.5	11.2
Elle Canada	11.4	11.9

   
Cottage Life has joined the Top 10 RPC, while BC Magazine has fallen off (it was no. 10 last year).

Top 10 French-language magazines (total readership)

Title	PMB 2011	+/- change from 2010
Qu'est-ce qui mijote	1.254 million	-8.6%
Coup de pouce	1.109 million	-9.8%
Touring	1.080 million	-3.0%
Châtelaine (Fr)	998,000	+4.9%
Sélection du Reader's Digest	944,000	-6.8%
7 Jours	878,000	-4.1%
Elle Québec	819,000	+7.2%
L'actualité	813,000	-2.2%
Clin d'oeil	672,000	+1.8%
Les Idées de ma maison	649,000	-4.8%

These are the same Top 10 titles as last year, though there’s been a slight reshuffling.

Top 11 French-language magazines (readers per copy)

Title	PMB 2011	PMB 2010
Dernière Heure	17.4	16.6
Rénovation Bricolage	13.5	15.5
Le Lundi	13.3	16.2
Star Système	10.6	10.9
7 Jours	10.1	9.7
Star Inc.	9.8	11.6
Les Idées de ma maison	9.5	9.6
Elle Québec	9.3	8.5
Clin d'oeil	9.3	8.9
La Semaine	8.9	8.4
Tout Simplement Clodine	8.9	9.3