A survey published by TGI on newspaper readership over the last twelve months reveals that "Israel Today", the freesheet published by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, is now the second most read newspaper in Israel, beating "Ma'ariv" which has held second place for many years.
TGI says that "Israel Today" is continuing to gain exposure, with an average daily exposure rate of more than 20% in January-June, compared with 17.4% in the same period last year.
"Israel Today" currently has daily circulation figures of 255,000. But despite gaining in strength, the paper's readership apparently consists in part of people who do not usually buy or read a daily newspaper, since the survey found no significant change in the readership of other dailies during this period, in contrast to the marked decline seen in previous years.
Commenting on the latest TGI survey, a spokesperson for "Israel Today" said, "When it was launched, the paper set itself the goal of becoming the leading daily in Israel. The figures show that we have already passed the halfway stage towards this goal within one year, something which can be considered an achievement by any measure."
"24 Minutes" the "Yediot Ahronot"-owned freesheet had a daily exposure rate of 5% in January-June 2008.
The combined coverage of the five national dailies - "Yediot Ahronot", "Israel Today", "Ma'ariv," "Ha'aretz", and "Globes" - reached 58% in January-June 2008, compared with 57.7% in June-December 2007.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 28, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008