Buoyant web traffic “floated the boat” of regional daily publishers – rescuing them from another dramatic downturn in print sales for the first half of 2014.
The six-monthly figures, compared with the same period last year, saw another huger uplift online which more than accounted the slide in circulation.
The Derby Telegraph put up the best overall combined performance for the end of June stats – with a massive 72pc rise in web traffic, countered with only a 9.2pc fall in their print circulation.
Online stats in the north east and north west publishing centres of Newsquest also showed sizeable increases – the Northern Echo website up 47pc, the Telegraph & Argus rose 44.6pc and the Bolton News 62.7pc.
Here are the multi-platform figures comparing print circulation and daily unique users for Johnston Press, Local World, Newsquest and the Midland News Association.
| Sales | UUs | Change | |
| Johnston Network | – | 801,795 | 24.5pc |
| Blackpoolgazette.co.uk | – | 29,540 | 52.2pc |
| The Gazette, Blackpool | 14,174 | – | -14.2pc |
| Halifaxcourier.co.uk | – | 12,558 | 5.7pc |
| Halifax Courier | 16,747 | – | -10.9pc |
| LEP.co.uk | – | 21,727 | 11.5pc |
| Lancashire Evening Post | 14,902 | – | -13.4pc |
| Peterboroughtoday.co.uk | – | 18,948 | 34.3pc |
| Portsmouth.co.uk | – | 38,253 | 1.9pc |
| The News & Sports Mail, Portsmouth | 27,954 | – | -8.6pc |
| Scotsman.com | – | 160,118 | 33.8pc |
| www.scotsman.com/jobs | – | -24.3pc | |
| The Scotsman | 27,208 | – | – |
| Sunderlandecho.com | – | 32,260 | 56.3pc |
| Sunderland Echo & Football Echo | 20,530 | – | -17.9pc |
| Thestar.co.uk | – | 44,919 | 26.7pc |
| Sheffield Star & Green ‘Un | 23,238 | – | -17.2pc |
| Yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk | – | 61,506 | 44.2pc |
| Yorkshire Evening Post | 23,959 | – | -17.2pc |
| Yorkshire Post.co.uk | 28,658 | 43.2pc | |
| Yorkshire Post | 31,022 | – | -9.2pc |
| KM Group | – | ||
| Kent Online (KM Group) network | 66,287 | 91.7pc | |
| Local World Network (Web) | – | 909,367 | 95.1pc |
| Bristol Post (Web) | – | 59,624 | 82.9pc |
| The Post | 25,182 | – | -14.6pc |
| Cambridge News (Web) | – | 40,326 | 47.5pc |
| Cambridge News | – | ||
| Derby Telegraph (Web) | – | 50,084 | 72.6pc |
| Derby Telegraph | 25,217 | – | -9.1pc |
| Gloucester Citizen/Gloucestershire Echo (Web) | – | 25,519 | -4.3pc |
| Grimsby Telegraph (Web) | 30,127 | 41.8pc | |
| Hull Daily Mail (Web) | – | 62,181 | 61.2pc |
| Hull Daily Mail | 35,117 | – | -8.3pc |
| Leicester Mercury (Web) | – | 49,208 | 53.9pc |
| Leicester Mercury | 35,006 | – | -12.9pc |
| Lincolnshire Echo (Web) | – | 22,465 | 41.6pc |
| Nottingham Post (Web) | – | 53,591 | 41.9pc |
| Nottingham Post | 23,533 | – | -13.1pc |
| Plymouth Herald (Web) | – | 55,400 | 82.3pc |
| The Herald, Plymouth | 21,783 | – | -13.5pc |
| Scunthorpe Telegraph (web) | 18,412 | 20,715 | 100.9pc |
| South Wales Evening Post (Web) | 67.2pc | ||
| South Wales Evening Post | 28,477 | – | -14.9pc |
| Stoke Sentinel (web) | 46,570 | 53.6pc | |
| The Sentinel | 37,481 | -10.5pc | |
| Midland News Association Network | – | 143,335 | 64.0pc |
| Expressandstar.com | – | 106,231 | 60.9pc |
| Shropshirestar.com | – | 74.2pc | |
| Shropshire Star | 36,756 | – | -14.7pc |
| Newsquest Media Group | – | 936,909 | 45.5pc |
| dailyecho.co.uk | – | 55,744 | 42.9pc |
| Southern Daily Echo | 22,397 | – | -16.6pc |
| eveningtimes.co.uk | – | 34,139 | 73.1pc |
| Glasgow Evening Times | 33,397 | – | -14.9pc |
| heraldscotland.com | – | 87,795 | 37.2pc |
| The Herald | 37,728 | – | -8.1pc |
| Sunday Herald | 25,125 | – | 1.0pc |
| lancashiretelegraph.co.uk | 37,662 | 28.8pc | |
| Lancashire Telegraph | 13,092 | – | -28.4pc |
| newsshopper.co.uk | – | 24,293 | 47.6pc |
| Oxfordmail.co.uk | – | 26,728 | 46.5pc |
| Oxford Mail | 12,773 | – | -22.9pc |
| Swindonadvertiser.co.uk | – | 24,748 | 16.8pc |
| Swindon Advertiser | 11,987 | – | -22.7pc |
| theargus.co.uk | – | 40,236 | 17.7pc |
| The Argus, Brighton | 14,370 | – | -13.5pc |
| theboltonnews.co.uk | – | 35,772 | 62.7pc |
| The Bolton News | 12,351 | – | -28.8pc |
| thenorthernecho.co.uk | – | 43,916 | 47.0pc |
| Northern Echo | 30,735 | – | -12.7pc |
| thepress.co.uk | – | 39,738 | 40.8pc |
| The Press, York | 19,643 | – | -10.9pc |
| thetelegraphandargus.co.uk | – | 45,225 | 44.6pc |
| Bradford Telegraph & Argus | 18,906 | – | -12.6pc |
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I am a web fan but how much HARD CASH comes in from web and how much from papers? Anyone can play with percentages. My guess is that print is still massively propping up web. Anyone got any figures?
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Sorry HTFP but a gremlin got into your stats columns – or my computer, so it was not easy to compare sales with Unique Users.
Even so, using terms like web traffic ‘rescuing’ regional publishers and ‘huge uplifts more than accounting for the slide in circulation’ don’t hold water let alone ‘float anyone’s boat’!
Without the stats for the revenue generated by web traffic and for newspaper sales, such sweeping statements are meaningless and shouldn’t really have got past the news editor, sub or editor on any objective publication, web or print.
If each unique user spent £1 looking at a nib on about a fire down his street on a website rather than buying the paper that day, then the comparison could be made and legitimately trumpeted.
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It would be very interesting to have more information about how newspapers are monetizing their website traffic.
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JP and LW have got plenty… but it’s Top Secret. Ssshhh.
Not to be opened til Xmas (or soon after).
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Dear webbedfeet – I have few hard figures but Local World’s online revenue accounts for less than 9% (£20m) of the total and that must be eaten up by the cost of maintaining its sites, etc, even though the company has just sacked its entire IT dept. The rest of the announced LW profit, then, must be from print sales as it doesn’t run events, produce marketing or advertising, or anything else to bring in cash. I agree all these big numbers online look good but in terms of paying salaries etc. all you’ll get at best if current trends continue is a harassed, low-paid “digital publisher” supported by interns and school work experience bods. Not good!
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So, what do we know ?
Product that people pay (increasing) amounts of money for and spend 20 odd minutes reading (and potentially responding to ads)….in massive decline with shocking downward trends.
Product that is free and, for the most part, is accessed for 1 story ( that is increasingly of the quirky or football kind) in massive growth.
Don’t panic. The bosses know what they are doing.
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Digital revenues tend to be around ten per cent of newspaper revenue.
However, these figures usually do not include a proper proportion of relevant costs from people to buildings. People will not go to look at a website if there is no news on them for example.
If you bore this in mind, it is fair to say there will not be a profitable digital newspaper site in the country.
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Cynic. As most hacks suspect. Digi is future but probably not much of one. Especially when weekly papers can’t be bothered to update their sites at weekends with NEWS. If digi is meant to be anything it is meant to be IMMEDIATE.
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