Almost 200 stand-alone magazines and niche publications were launched by regional newspaper publishers last year, in an effort to attract a wider range of readers.

The Newspaper Society’s annual industry survey found 401 magazines or niche products were published in 2004, an increase of 48.5 per cent.

This shows a growing trend among publishers to use a portfolio of products to reach targeted groups which may not read the main paper.

The survey, which is now in its second year, also showed that the regional press is now a £4bn industry, with overall operating profit for all regional and local press publishers estimated at £932m.

Advertising contributes 74 per cent of all revenue.

More than 55,000 people are now employed in the regional press, 14,009 of which are editorial staff, an increase of 7.6 per cent on the previous year.

In contrast, 585 people are employed in a senior management role, a drop of almost 17 per cent compared with 2003.

Commercial, advertising and marketing together account for the highest number of staff, at 16,450 – and 10,393 staff are employed in production/press, an increase of 6.8 per cent and 14.3 per cent respectively.

Employment at December 31, 2004

In 2004 regional press publishers invested more than £350m in new printing presses and production technology, and a third of all copies of national newspapers are printed on regional newspaper presses.

The Newspaper Society sent out a detailed questionnaire to all regional and local publishing groups in the UK.

Replies were recieved from publishing groups accounting for 75 per cent of all regional press titles published each week and, based on the response, figures were then adjusted to give an estimate of the industry as a whole.

Commenting on the results, Robert Ray, marketing director of the Newspaper Society said: “This is an invaluable and insightful snapshot of how the industry has developed over the course of a year.

“The results clearly show the level of investment from publishers in their product, staff and equipment, and the confidence that they have in their value to both readers and advertisers.

“By publishing the survey annually we will have a valuable tool for benchmarking how the industry is developing and which issues are key to publishers in the regional press industry.”

Newspaper costs, December 2004 (£m)

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