Rubel is bigger than PR Week UK
{ Tags: pr blogging \ Jun12 }Since TypePad and FeedBurner have drummed up a partnership allowing users to analyse exactly how many subscribers a particular TypePad blog has, I’ve been waiting for a couple of high-profilers to publish their stats. Well, just today, while going though my Bloglines subscriptions I noticed Steve Rubel’s feed had the FeedBurner feed count chicklet displaying 17546 readers (see below). Very impressive indeed.
It then got me thinking about how Steve’s stats compare with a publication’s circulation. PR Week UK, for example. So being an inquisitive chap, off I went and found it in MediaAtlas. Quite surprisingly, or maybe not, PR Week UK has less of a circulation (16320) than Rubel has of subscribers.
So what does this tell us when a practitioner has a higher readership than that of an industry publication? Well, quite a lot really. For one, it shows that things are a changing. Second, it tells us that any person or organisation can become an media company in their own right. And finally, it demonstrates that a person or organisation (or industry publication 
) that chooses to ignore and dismiss blogs will do so at their own peril.
Stephen is managing director of 3W PR, a UK based online PR consultancy. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email StephenRelated Posts
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Piaras Kelly
Hmm…you’re not comparing like with like in my opinion. There’s plenty of people that would read Rubel’s site that wouldn’t read PR Week purely because they are interested in what he has to say about tech/Web 2.0. To be honest, how much does Rubel have to say about PR these days, although he has started to put some more focus on it again.
I read PR Week more often than Rubel’s site purely because I read it for PR and don’t want to read about the latest online tool. Comparing PR Week and Rubel’s site is a bit like comparing Match of the Day and Sky News at times. Some of the content overlaps, but not much.
Stephen
Cheers P,
You’ve got some valid points. But, to give another example, how many readers do, say, Tom Murphy and Jeremy Pepper have? Maybe collectively (and I’m guessing by how many are subscribed in Bloglines) they have the same as Rubel.
Would it be fair to say these are more industry-based blogs? And if they are, would it be more of a comparison?
I think my point is (apart from being peeved at what the PR Week editor said about UK PR blogs) is that any individual can become a media outlet in their own right. And Rubel has.
Drew B's take on tech PR
I noticed that chicklet today, Stephen. Crazy isnt it! That one man’s musings can get as many readers as a well respected industry magazine. Totally get your point.
Amanda Chapel
I second Piaras’ opinion.
- Amanda Chapel