Communicators

High-quality content and increased frequency leads to readership growth for the nearly 40-year-old pioneering publication

TORONTO, February 13, 2020 - Media Central Corporation Inc. (“MediaCentral”) (CSE:FLYY, FSE:3AT) today announced impressive year-over-year audience growth for its wholly owned subsidiaries NOW Magazine and nowtoronto.com (“NOW”) when comparing data from October to December in 2018 against the same period in 2019.

Overall user* growth for the popular news and lifestyle publication’s digital platform www.nowtoronto.com for the three-month period in 2019 as compared to the same period in 2018 was a remarkable 26.2%.

NOW’s weekly print issue also reported year-over-year growth. The newspaper saw a 12% increase in readership, with an average of an additional 176,000 Torontonians picking up the publication at over 740 locations each month. 

Factors contributing to the increased audience include an aggressive 7-day news cycle with fresh content posted multiple times daily; a dedicated focus on social media driving increased traffic to nowtoronto.com; new features that speak to issues directly effecting the people of Toronto including homelessness, real estate woes, public transportation; and management’s focus on creating an unparallel digital experience to leverage the strength of its on-trend and in-demand readership.

“NOW’s impressive 22% total audience growth for the recent quarter is a testament of our commitment to original and informed cutting-edge journalism and being the number one source for event listings in Toronto. As MediaCentral moves to execute phase one of our digitization strategy we are especially thrilled to report the significant interest of NOW’s inspiring readership,” said Brian Kalish, CEO of MediaCentral, who took control of NOW in Q4 of 2019. “Our ever expanding and truly influential digital audience creates some serious opportunities for us to digitally monetize this iconic publication, creating best practices as we move toward in consolidating the 100 million strong readers of alternative titles across North America.”

Summary of audience growth comparing Q4 2018 to Q4 2019:

-          Print: From 1,460,000 average monthly readers to 1,636,000 average monthly readers; 12 percent increase

-          Digital: From 1,993,772 users to 2,516,965; 26.2 percent increase

-          Digital: From 2,673,962 sessions to 3,154,856; 18 percent increase

*Users are defined as the number of unique visitors to a web site based on browser cookies.

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Sources

Print - Vividata Winter 2018 Report, Vividata Winter 2019 Report

Digital – Google analytics (October-December 2018 versus October-December 2019)

About NOW Central Communications Inc.

NOW Central owns and operates NOW Magazine and nowtoronto.com. NOW is Toronto’s news and entertainment voice, published in print every Thursday, and daily at nowtoronto.com.  Reaching over 25 million annual readers, NOW has been a leading publication, defining and pioneering the independent and alternative voice for more than 38 years. NOW Central Communications Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Central Corporation Inc. (CSE: FLYY, FSE: 3AT).

nowtoronto.com Instagram: @nowtoronto Twitter: @nowtoronto Facebook: facebook.com/nowmagazine

About Media Central Corporation Inc.

Media Central Corporation Inc. (CSE: FLYY, FSE: 3AT) is an independent media company situated to acquire and develop high-quality publishing assets starting with the recent acquisition of NOW Communications Inc. and the launch of digital cannabis platform CannCentral.com. MediaCentral is consolidating and digitally monetizing the over 100 million coveted and premium readers of the 100 alternative weekly newspapers across North America, creating the most powerful untapped audience of influencers. 

For more information: www.mediacentralcorp.com

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For further information:

Investor Relations: investors@mediacentralcorp.com;  

Media Relations: Faulhaber Communications, Lexi Pathak, media@mediacentralcorp.com