57pc of newspaper readers read Prothom Alo

Prothom Alo is the most widely read newspaper in the country. More than 57 per cent of newspaper readers across Bangladesh read Prothom Alo, making it the leading newspaper nationwide.

This was found in a survey, National Public Opinion Survey on Media 2025, conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) at the request of the Media Reform Commission.

The survey was conducted across all 64 districts of Bangladesh from 1 to 7 January. More than 45,000 people participated in the survey.

Prothom Alo ranked first in 61 out of 64 districts in terms of district-wise readership. The newspaper maintains a strong presence not only in urban areas but also in rural regions.

Bangladesh Pratidin holds the second position in terms of national readership.

The BBS report presents detailed findings on the most-read newspapers across national, regional, divisional, and gender-based segments. Prothom Alo ranks the top position in every category.

According to the BBS report, 36 sample areas were randomly selected from each of the 64 districts. From each sample area, 20 general households (family or people who cook at the same stove) were surveyed.

The initial plan was to collect data from 46,080 households across the country. However, data was ultimately collected from 45,045 households due to absence of some household members, while some were not interested to take part in the survey.

One respondent aged 10 or above was selected from each household using the “Kish Grid” method.

Data was collected using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) method, where interviewers conducted face-to-face interviews and recorded responses using tablets or computers.

During the survey 26.96 per cent of respondents said they read newspapers regularly or occasionally.

One of the key questions in the survey was, “Which newspapers do you usually read? Please name up to three newspapers you read most often.”

The options included 63 newspapers (both Bengali and English-language ones published from Dhaka). The respondents could also mention names of other or local newspapers, not included in the list of those 63 newspapers.

The survey results showed that 57.38 per cent of the readers across the country read Prothom Alo, which means more than half the market share among newspaper readers belongs to Prothom Alo.

It is important to note that multiple responses were allowed, that means a person could mention more than one newspaper. A total of 11,260 respondents answered this question.

Among male readers, 57.17 per cent reported reading Prothom Alo, while among female readers the number was slightly higher, at 57.71 per cent per cent.

In urban areas, 59.58 per cent of respondents read Prothom Alo, compared to 56.47 per cent in rural areas.

Asked, a BBS official involved with the survey, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the survey report reflects the data that was gathered in the field.

Mentioning that the survey was conducted at the request of the Media Reform Commission, the BBS official further said, the questionnaire was provided by the Commission.

The BBS was responsible for data collection only, the official added.