83 million digital magazine issues read on Readly during 2019

Readly digital magazine service releases a Readly Report each year showing digital consumption and reading habits across its portfolio of magazines. The 2019 Readly Report shows how Readly is growing. The inventory of magazines has increased rapidly over the last year, from a total of around 3,000 titles at the end of 2018 to almost 5,000 titles at the end of 2019, with a deep catalogue totalling around 120,000 issues. In its core markets Germany, UK and Sweden, Readly now has the largest magazine portfolio among “all-you-can-eat” focused providers, and with the best coverage of top titles - defined by highest circulation.

“In our experience, a wide range of quality content is central to both acquiring new customers and also engaging them more deeply once they have subscribed. This is achieved through a mix of reading well known magazines and experimenting with new ones”- says Ranj Begley, Chief Content Officer at Readly.

The usage of Readly also increased in 2019 - in Germany almost 37 million issues were read during 2019 (+49% year-over-year), followed by Sweden with 22 million (+17%) and the UK with 14 million (+21%).

“Together, these three markets accounted for 88 percent of our total readership for 2019. Yet as we move into new territories - Austria, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands are our latest new market entries- the consumer appeal appears to be universal. These newer markets are accelerating our growth across borders” - says Ranj Begley.

Frequent reading of back issues
Data of back issue reading have also been analysed in the 2019 Readly Report. Among the core markets the UK has the highest rate of back issue reading (16%), followed by Germany (12%) and Sweden (10%).

“Many subscribers are very committed to their favourite magazine brands and enjoy the content regardless of the publishing date. We have also launched Readly Articles in the UK and Sweden during autumn 2019 - a feed of curated content where early data proves that timeless articles are popular even though months have passed since publication. Publishers’ back catalogues can be fully revitalised through digital formats and that is happening on Readly” - says Ranj Begley.

Increasing number of subscribers

For 2019, the total time spent with Readly by each subscriber every month was about 7 hours. The average user session was 21 minutes, but sessions can range from short “snacks” to much longer and more concentrated reading sessions. Average session reading time shows little difference from territory to territory ranging from 20.9 minutes in Germany to 22.3 minutes in Austria – with the UK averaging at 21.5 minutes.

“Our subscriber base has increased significantly in 2019. The amount of time that subscribers spend reading has remained steady year-on-year – a very positive result given the amount of competition for consumer time and attention” - says Ranj Begley.

Hot topics & categories in the Readly Report 2019

• Celebrity & Entertainment has a 19% share – a huge leap compared to last year’s Readly Report when the share amounted to 10%.
• Lifestyle is in second place with an 11% share.
• Automotive has risen strongly to 10%, up from 5% the previous year.
• The reading interest for Tech, Gadgets & Home Entertainment has increased three years in a row from 5,3% share in 2017, 5,6% in 2018 and 8% in 2019.

Visit www.readly.com for more information.

ENDS