Digital-only accounts for 11% of magazine content consumption

New York—Reading of digital versions of magazines on desktop or laptop computers, tablets, e-readers and smartphones accounts for 11% of the total gross magazine audience in the U.S., according to market research company GfK MRI.

The company said the total gross magazine audience, which it defined as the number of consumer exposures to magazine content on any platform, including print and digital formats, totaled 1.58 billion between March and October this year. The total digital-only audience in that period was 166 million, according to GfK MRI.

This information is part of the company's “Survey of the American Consumer” report for which GfK MRI interviews about 26,000 U.S. adults in their homes each year.

Separately, NetLine Corp.'s TradePub.com, an online subscription service for business magazines, has released data on how businesspeople interact with iPads. Using data from the 50,000 iPad owners who downloaded TradePub.com's app, the company found that the most popular day for downloads was Sunday and the busiest time was the hour between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Additionally, just 13% of those downloading content are in the technology sector, while 87% are in other industries such as finance, government and manufacturing.