24 | Press release statistics: the 24presse observatory

Press release statistics by topic

Breakdown of press releases by main editorial topic (top 10 of the 20 categories).

Business news is the leading topic, followed by culture, technology and health. The other ten categories, from employment to food, each gather between 120 and 200 press releases.

Press release statistics by language

Analysis of 1,914 press releases by declared language.

English is the second language by far: one press release in five is written for an international or English-speaking audience. Other European languages remain marginal, which also means little competition for a release written in the journalist’s own language.

Press release statistics by day: which day are releases published?

Analysis of 2,954 press releases by publication day.

97.15 % of press releases are published from Monday to Friday. Thursday is the most used day; Tuesday is the other favourite day for major announcements. Weekends account for 2.84 %.

The French regions that publish the most press releases

Breakdown of 1,070 press releases published from France, by region.

The Paris region concentrates almost 60 % of press releases. For a foreign company communicating in France, the Paris press remains the first target, but the regions account for 40 % of the activity.

Method and limits of these press release statistics

The statistics are calculated from the information available in the 24Presse database at the time of extraction. They only cover press releases published through the service that meet the criteria of each indicator, so they do not describe the market as a whole. 24Presse publishes them with a clear, reproducible and transparent method. Source: 24Presse internal database, press releases published since 2009.

To apply these figures to your own campaign: press release distribution in 5 steps.

How to use these press release statistics

These press release statistics are above all a planning tool: choosing the right day, thinking about regional media and seeing which topics face the most competition. They remain averages, so combine them with your own experience of your sector.

How to read press release statistics

The observatory describes past activity through a press release service. It does not describe the whole press relations market, and it does not predict the result of a single press release. It serves three purposes: understanding the habits of those who communicate (languages, days, territories), comparing your own choices with those of the majority, and spotting the less crowded slots. For example, the Thursday peak and the near absence of weekends do not mean that Thursday is the “best” day in absolute terms. They mean that it is the most crowded day in journalists’ inboxes, and that a Tuesday or Wednesday morning can face less competition for attention.

What stands out in the data

• A working-week calendar: Monday to Friday gather 97.15 % of publications, with two peaks, Thursday and Tuesday. Wednesday is the quietest weekday (14.42 %).
• A territorial concentration: the Paris region accounts for 59.81 % of the press releases sent from France, but the five following regions together still weigh 40 %.
• A linguistic opening: more than a quarter of the press releases analysed by language are not written in French, English first, then German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

Comparing with public data on the media

To interpret the observatory, set it against institutional sources. Eurostat publishes statistics on businesses by sector and country, which help relate the number of press releases to the economic fabric of a territory. In France, INSEE provides population and business data by region. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report describes how news is consumed country by country, a useful reference before choosing the media to target.

What a company can do with this data

Three practical uses of press release statistics. Choose the day: if the topic is not tied to a date, prefer Tuesday or Wednesday morning and avoid Friday afternoon and weekends. Localise: if the company has a site or an activity in a region, say so in the headline and include the regional press in the list, since 40 % of the releases sent from France come from outside the Paris region. Choose the language: a press release in the journalist’s language, even on a market where the company is little known, is more likely to be read than an English release sent to everyone.

Calculation method and updates

These press release statistics are calculated on extractions of the internal database, with the criteria stated for each one (declared language, publication date, region declared by the sender). Press releases without the required information are excluded from the corresponding indicator, which is why the calculation bases differ from one indicator to another. Percentages are rounded to two decimals. The observatory is updated periodically. Anyone who wishes to use these figures in an article or a study can cite them as “24Presse Observatory, internal database, press releases published since 2009”.

Limits of press release statistics

The database reflects the service’s clientele, mostly French, and its habits; the shares by language and by region are not representative of other markets. The publication day shows when the press release was sent, not when it was picked up. The region is the one declared by the sender, not that of the media reached. With these limits in mind, the data remains a concrete reference for choosing a calendar, a language and a territory.

To move from data to action: international press release distribution and media lists by country.

A concrete use: planning a launch in France

Here is how press release statistics help in practice. A British company is preparing a launch on the French market. From the observatory it draws three conclusions. The Paris press is the first target, but the regions weigh 40 %, so the list will include the regional press where the company has a distributor. Thursday is crowded, so the release goes out on a Tuesday morning. Releases in English are common, so a French version for the French trade press will stand out more. The final plan: two language versions, two lists by section, a Tuesday in September. None of these choices guarantees the result; all of them reduce the most common mistakes. More on the French market: press release distribution in France.