Reader Behavior Scores (RBS) are a measurement of newspaper readership. They are based on how often people typically read the newspaper, how much time they spend and how completely they read. They are expressed as a single score on a scale of 1-7, with one indicating non-readership and seven indicating heavy reading. Understanding and Calculating Reader Behavior Scores provides complete instructions on how to calculate RBS.

Look at your newspaper's RBS score and determine whether you are particularly high or low. This will give you a sense of the overall readership of the newspaper and how it compares to other markets. Although most of RBS's value is in its ability, if measured at regular intervals, to monitor changes within your own market, it can be helpful to see how your newspaper compares to others. The average for the industry is 3.66. In general, differences greater than .25 above or below that should be considered meaningful. The chart above shows the distribution of the RBS scores nationally. This chart may help you to get a better sense of where your newspaper falls in comparison to other newspapers.

Overall RBS Score

	Circulation Size
	Industry	10,000-25,000	25,001-50,000	50,001-100,000	100,001-200,000	200,000+
RBS Score	3.66	3.63	3.79	3.58	3.84	3.57

To gain additional detail about newspaper readership in your market, look at the tables below for national time spent, frequency and completeness average. For example, you may find it helpful to compare the proportion of people reading your newspaper more than 30 minutes per day with the averages in your circulation group. A difference of 8 percent or greater is meaningful.

Typical Daily Reading

Q: Since the first of the year, which days do you read or look into ___________ newspaper in an average 7-day week? Check all that apply

	Circulation Size
	Industry	10,000-25,000	25,001-50,000	50,001-100,000	100,001-200,000	200,000+
Monday	51.0%	50.3%	54.7%	50.1%	52.0%	46.3%
Tuesday	51.7%	53.3%	52.8%	48.8%	49.0%	44.1%
Wednesday	54.8%	56.6%	55.9%	51.1%	51.7%	47.6%
Thursday	52.6%	54.2%	53.8%	50.0%	50.8%	45.2%
Friday	55.7%	56.9%	56.8%	53.1%	56.1%	49.2%
Saturday	50.3%	48.6%	53.5%	51.2%	56.3%	47.2%
Sunday	61.1%	55.2%	67.3%	64.6%	71.7%	69.8%
Do Not Read	27.4%	27.8%	27.1%	29.1%	22.5%	25.3%

Weekday Time Spent Reading

Q: How much time do you spend on an average weekday (Monday-Friday) reading or looking into the _________________ newspaper?

	Circulation Size
	Industry	10,000-25,000	25,001-50,000	50,001-100,000	100,001-200,000	200,000+
Do not read	30.4%	29.2%	29.8%	33.7%	28.8%	35.9%
1-15 minutes	21.7%	25.1%	19.2%	18.3%	17.7%	15.4%
16-30 minutes	28.5%	29.7%	28.6%	26.5%	26.2%	24.6%
31-45 minutes	11.1%	9.7%	13.1%	11.5%	14.4%	12.5%
46-60 minutes	5.7%	4.6%	6.3%	6.6%	8.3%	8.0%
61 minutes or more	2.5%	1.8%	3.0%	3.4%	4.6%	3.6%

Weekday Completeness of Reading

Q: How much of _________________ newspaper do you read or look into on an average weekday?

	Circulation Size
	Industry	10,000-25,000	25,001-50,000	50,001-100,000	100,001-200,000	200,000+
none	32.8%	32.1%	32.0%	34.7%	30.5%	37.7%
1/4	11.3%	10.8%	10.2%	11.5%	14.4%	14.7%
1/2	11.1%	11.0%	10.2%	11.1%	12.5%	12.7%
3/4	11.7%	11.1%	11.9%	12.9%	13.7%	12.2%
Almost all/all	33.2%	35.0%	35.7%	29.7%	28.9%	22.7%

Weekend/Sunday Time Spent Reading

Q: How much time, if any, do you spend reading or looking into any part of the Sunday ____________ newspaper on an average weekend plus any time during the week?

	Circulation Size
	Industry	10,000-25,000	25,001-50,000	50,001-100,000	100,001-200,000	200,000+
none	31.6%	33.2%	30.3%	32.7%	25.1%	27.9%
<1/2 hour	18.6%	21.6%	16.4%	16.2%	13.6%	13.2%
half hour - 1 hour	26.2%	27.0%	26.6%	24.5%	23.3%	24.4%
1 - 2 hours	17.5%	14.0%	20.1%	19.4%	26.4%	23.9%
2 - 2 ½ hours	3.4%	2.4%	3.6%	3.8%	6.8%	6.0%
2 ½ - 3 hours	1.2%	0.8%	1.2%	1.7%	2.4%	2.1%
3 or more hours	1.5%	1.0%	1.7%	1.7%	2.5%	2.6%

Weekend/Sunday Completeness of Reading

Q: How much of _________________ newspaper do you read or look into on an average weekend?

	Circulation Size
	Industry	10,000-25,000	25,001-50,000	50,001-100,000	100,001-200,000	200,000+
none	30.3%	32.0%	28.7%	30.8%	24.0%	27.7%
1/4	9.7%	8.7%	9.1%	10.5%	11.0%	15.8%
1/2	12.4%	11.6%	11.6%	12.1%	15.8%	17.8%
3/4	13.8%	13.0%	13.9%	14.9%	16.9%	15.0%
Almost all/all	33.8%	34.8%	36.7%	31.8%	32.2%	23.8%