What is the Difference Between Circulation and Readership?

The main difference between circulation and readership lies in the number and distribution of copies of a publication and the number of readers a publication has, respectively.

Circulation refers to the number of copies of a particular publication that are distributed, and it is typically provided by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). On the other hand, readership is an estimate of how many readers a publication has. Since most publications have more than one reader per copy, the readership estimate is generally higher than the circulation count. Readership estimates also provide information on the demographic profile of readers and their other reading habits.

The relationship between readership and circulation is known as readers-per-copy, which is calculated by dividing readership by circulation. The number of readers-per-copy varies considerably by publication, and it can be influenced by factors such as the "pass-along" rate, which is the average number of people who read a single copy of a publication. For example, if a newspaper's circulation is 50,000 and the pass-along rate is 2.5 readers, the total readership would be 125,000 (50,000 x 2.5).

Comparative Table: Circulation vs Readership

The difference between circulation and readership lies in the way they measure the consumption of print media. Here is a table summarizing the differences:

In summary, circulation measures the number of copies of a publication distributed, while readership estimates the number of people who actually read the publication. The relationship between the two is known as readers-per-copy, which varies by publication and can be affected by factors such as sample variation and sudden changes in readership trends.