Weekly titles again provided the major ray of light to regional newspaper publishers as the latest ABC figures showed regionals continuing to lose readers.
Although the decline has to be set against a backdrop of increasing media fragmentation, the figures show the biggest drop for the sector -2.1 per cent - in five years of slipping circulation.
Sunday papers suffered the worst losses, dropping by 6.4 per cent, while morning papers were down 3.8 per cent.
Evening papers showed decreases across all titles, with readership dropping 2.4 per cent on average. Only weeklies posted an increase, rising 0.4 per cent.
Chris Stanley, marketing director of the Newspaper Society, said the results had to be seen in context. 'Although we would rather we weren't reporting a circulation loss at all, I have to say that we do think 2.1 per cent is a very marginal decline when you look at the overall picture of the media scene,' he said.
'Look at ITV or at the national papers - media is fragmenting and everyone is fighting against declines. Let's face it - people are very busy, so there's competition for time. If we're not working, we're queuing for petrol.'
He added: 'Regional newspapers are still selling more than 46 million copies every week and that makes us a huge mass media.
'We must also factor in the effect of new media. Don't forget regional newspaper websites are recording more than 100 million page impressions a month.'
However, Sam Simpson, marketing manager at the Irish News - one of just three regional morning papers to record an increase - cautioned against complacency.
'The regional press has long prided itself in being the second most popular medium for advertisers and if it loses that, it will be a massive wake-up call.
'Some of the regional papers in Britain are a little lethargic. Lack of competition creates an environment where people won't react as vigorously as they could. You need to be brave and listen to your readers.'
CIRCULATION GROWTH JANUARY-JUNE 1995/2000
Jan-June Jan-June Jan-June Jan-June Jan-June
95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00
Mornings -1.8 -0.9 -0.9 -1.9 -3.8
Evenings -2.3 -2.2 -0.8 -1.7 -2.4
Sundays -4.1 -3.4 -3.4 -4.8 -6.4
Weeklies -0.4 +0.7 +1.0 +0.3 +0.4
Total -1.8 -1.1 -0.5 -1.2 -2.1
SOURCE: Audit Bureau of Circulations (January-June 2000)
PERCENTAGE OF TITLES SHOWING CIRCULATION GROWTH
Jan-June Jan-June Jan-June Jan-June Jan-June
95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00
Mornings 29 53 63 31 18
Evenings 18 24 49 36 24
Sundays 44 44 63 43 0
Weeklies 46 59 66 61 61
Total 41 53 63 56 52
SOURCE: Audit Bureau of Circulations (January-June 2000)
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