According to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures, for the six months to the end of December, the top 10 paid-for titles all posted considerable falls. Based on Monday to Saturday circulation, the only title to show an increase in circulation among the daily regional newspapers was the Swindon Advertiser, up 0.4% year on year.
The West Midlands Express & Star sold most copies during the period, with a daily average of 143,522 copies, down 3.3% on the previous ABC reporting period and down 2.6% from the second half of 2006.
Independent News & Media’s Belfast Telegraph was the hardest hit, down 9.6% period on period and 13.9% year on year, to 75,602 copies.
The Manchester Evening News, which adopted a part-free, part-paid model in May 2006, with the title handed out free within parts of the city centre and paid-for elsewhere, registered a 6.4% slide in the circulation of its paid-for title, to 81,326 copies. The freesheet however, climbed to 98,445 copies from 92,867 in the first six months of 2007, giving a combined free and paid-for circulation of around 180,000.
Edd Lucas, communications planner at BLM Clilverd, insisted that the circulation decline among regional weekly titles, traditionally seen as more robust than their daily cousins, was a relatively new trend, reflecting how younger readers in particular are shunning such titles.
However, ABC director Martyn Gates said the regionals’ decline was not unexpected. “Newspaper circulations have been going down for years, that is nothing new,” he added. However, he pointed out that with regional newspapers delivering content in other ways, such as online, these print figures are “part of a bigger picture”.
Lynne Anderson, communications director at The Newspaper Society, agreed that newspaper circulation alone could no longer provide a complete measure of regional publishers’ reach, given their growing online presence. She also pointed to the array of distribution methods, such as morning or evening editions, and free and paid-for approaches.
“The old definitions – morning, evening, paid and free – are blurring and it’s no longer possible to provide a realistic comparison of regional newspaper circulation by type,” added Anderson.
Lynne Anderson
Regionals put faith in online as print circulations decline
LONDON - Paid-for regional newspapers continued their circulation decline in the second half of 2007, as readers continued to drift towards new sources of local media, including freesheets and the internet.
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