Earlier this year many of you took part in our EDP Reader Survey - and I have previously promised to share the results and some of the changes that will follow.

In fact the response was staggering, more than 3,500 people gave their views on the EDP alone - giving us some fantastic information on what you like and what you don't like about newspapers we produce.

As I've said before some of it has already prompted us to make a few changes to the newspaper - and hopefully you will feel they have improved the overall quality of the title.

We brought back our weekly What's On supplement, as this content was something that scored very positively amongst readers, meanwhile we've stopped producing our weekly Heaven supplement, instead turning our attentions to a bigger and better Weekend pull-out on a Saturday.

Eastern Daily Press: David Powles, Eastern Daily Press editor.David Powles, Eastern Daily Press editor. (Image: Simon Finlay Photography)

It's a vast improvement, full of great local content and please do give it a try if you haven't already.

More changes will follow, but today, in the first of a two-part column, I wanted to share with you a few of the findings and how they have helped us.

I hope you find it as interesting as I did and thank you again for taking part.

Here are some of the key findings:

Gender

Male 57pc

Female 43pc

Of course, this statistic only covers those who took part in the survey, but if it is indicative of the trend as a whole it highlights a need for our content to appeal to more women, a challenge that has been set to the editorial teams.

Age

25-34 5pc

35-44 9pc

45-54 12pc

55-64 16pc

65-74 35pc

75+ 17pc

Our newspaper demographic is very varied, though something like 80pc is in the 45+ category. The challenge this presents is to really produce content that all ages find interesting and engaging,

Eastern Daily Press: Eastern Daily PressEastern Daily Press (Image: Contributed)

Including yourself, how many people typically read or look through your copy of the newspaper?

Just me 46pc

2 47pc

3 6pc

4+ 2pc

More than half of you share your newspaper with someone else, a great indication of the size of the EDP's audience and the positive impact it can have in the community through spreading awareness.

Which day of the week do you prefer to read this newspaper?

Saturday 44pc

Monday 22pc

Friday 14pc

Wednesday 8pc

Thursday 5pc

Tuesday 4pc

Sunday 4pc

As you may know our Saturday newspaper remains very much our flagship, with more pages, more longer reads and subsequently a high price. It's meant as a leisure read, something you sit down and pore over - and it's great to see so many of you still do that.

How long do you spend reading this newspaper?

20-39 mins 48pc

40-59 mins 27pc

1 hour 13pc

More than an hour 12pc

We hope that you find our newspaper good value for money - and the fact that more than half of you spend 40 minutes plus reading it suggests you do.


Eastern Daily Press: Around 2000 people from Norfolk have written to Ofcom to call for radical changes to the national internet network.Around 2000 people from Norfolk have written to Ofcom to call for radical changes to the national internet network. (Image: Archant Norfolk Photographic / James Bass © 2011)


How often do you visit this newspaper's website?

Several times a week 53pc

Never 21pc

Once a week 10pc

Once a fortnight 1pc

Once a month 5pc

Every few months 10pc

Long gone are the days when people just get their news from one channel or brand and it's interesting to see that more than half of you who read the paper regularly also visit our website. We do deliberately try to offer breaking news online and a deeper experience in print to encourage people to visit both.

How often do you read this newspaper?

Daily 76pc

A few times per week 10pc

Weekly 10pc

A few times a month or less 4pc

A figure that gave us confidence these are the views of a large proportion of loyal customers. I'm thankful to every one of you!

Outside this newspaper, which other newspapers do you read?

None or none of below 23pc

The Guardian 19pc

Daily Mail 16pc

Sunday Times 14pc

The Times 14pc

The Daily Telegraph 12pc

The Independent 9pc

Next week: What you think about particular sections and our coverage of certain subjects?