Each issue contains two or three study articles that are discussed at congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the world. Simultaneous printing in the vast majority of languages in which The Watchtower is published makes it possible for virtually all of the Jehovah's Witness communities throughout the earth to discuss the same information each week.
With an average printing of twenty-five million copies, The Watchtower is thought to be the most widely circulated religious magazine in the world.
The Watchtower, along with its companion magazine Awake, are distributed free of charge, although voluntary donations are accepted to support the magazines' further distribution.