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Exeter daily becomes latest Northcliffe title to go weekly

Exeter’s Express and Echo is to become a weekly after 106 years as a daily title as part of publisher Northcliffe Media’s ongoing shake-up of its portfolio.

The change, due to take place early next month, will see the Devon title produce a 200-page weekly edition which will hit the streets each Thursday.

It follows the switch by Northcliffe sister title the Torquay Herald Express to become a weekly last month, with the Scunthorpe Telegraph set to follow in the next fortnight.

No information has been given about the likely number of potential redundancies, but the change of frequency in Torquay saw around half of the 32-strong editorial staff lose their jobs. The Express and Echo currently has around 12 reporters, in addition to production, sports and features staff.

It is expected the final daily edition of the Express and Echo will appear on Friday 2 September.

The first weekly newspaper will be in the shops on Thursday 8 September, and will remain on sale throughout the week.

The Express and Echo has an average daily circulation of 17,102 according to the most recent ABC figures – lower than the Torquay title’s but slightly higher than Scunthorpe’s.

At least one Northcliffe title that is expected to remain daily has a lower circulation than the Express and Echo, but is understood that decisions about the frequency switches have been made on the basis of profitability rather than sales.

Northcliffe managing director Steve Auckland said: “We are committed to giving the Express and Echo’s readers real quality and value for money – the new weekly edition of the paper will deliver on both.

“We need to adapt to changes in the market in order to survive and prosper. The plans for the new edition of the Express & Echo look excellent and I am confident we can offer both readers and advertisers added value.”

Editor Marc Astley said: “Exeter is a much different city from the one that first embraced the Express & Echo in 1904. The population has become increasingly diverse with many of our readers now leading ever-busier lifestyles.

“It is clear to us that they value local news and their local newspaper but the majority of them simply do not have the time to buy it every day. We therefore feel that a weekly title would be much better aligned with the needs of our customers.”

Express and Echo MD Andrew Blair added: “This is a significant change for the business and a major step forward for advertisers in Exeter and East Devon.

“They will experience an immediate benefit as we anticipate a single issue of the weekly to reach a much wider market than any single edition of the daily.

“We will still be the leading media in Exeter and the heart of Devon and our desire to serve our readers is as strong as it has ever been.”

Northcliffe say initial results from the change of the Torquay Herald Express have been encouraging for both circulation and advertising, with advertising performance for the first edition up 19pc from an average full week of daily figures, and the first week’s circulation, albeit heavily promoted, more than double the most recent daily ABC.

18 comments

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  • August 5, 2011 at 9:34 am
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    As regards the Torquay Herald Express, an increase of around 3,000 sales on a Thursday is all well and good until, that is, you consider the 90,000-odd sales lost on the other five days of the week.

    The Herald Express previously sold 100,000-plus copies a week, it’s now selling nearer 20,000.

    Back-of-fag-packet mathematics suggests the new paper costs half as much to produce but that revenue from sales – 20,000 x £1 = £20,000 as opposed to 108,000 x 35p = £37,800 – has diminished accordingly so, unless the revenue from advertising has increased dramatically I remain to be convinced that this will make the paper any more sustainable.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 9:56 am
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    Point a) Mr Auckland’s claimed desire for ‘real quality’ has not prevented the company from shedding nearly all its best staff over the last three years or so.
    b) How can Mr Astley assert that people do not have time to buy the Echo any more? Is he saying that those who pop into their local shop every day to purchase nationals such as the Daily Mail, are idle good-for-nothing wasters with little or nothing else to do than buy papers, but only if they are not local?
    c) Have already tried the maths that yodothemaths has done and have come to the same conclusion.
    How depressing is it that Northcliffe can happily chop a daily newspaper serving an increasing prosperous and ever-growing county capital?

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  • August 5, 2011 at 10:08 am
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    Newspaper sales barely cover the cost of distribution. Newspapers make their money from advertising.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 10:29 am
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    Appreciate that. But what reason is there to think the advertising revenue from a weekly title will be significantly more than that from a daily one (remember, the Express & Echo hasn’t even managed to sell it’s front-page earpieces for the past year)?

    Yes you may gain a few advertisers but, at the same time, you lose the revenue from those who routinely advertised more than once a week.

    Best-case scenario, IMO, is that all the existing advertisers migrate to the weekly title and pay in the region of 5-10 per cent more to reflect the ‘increase’ in circulation.

    As an aside, how many copies did the Herald Express sell in weeks two and three?

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  • August 5, 2011 at 10:33 am
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    It’s not the change in frequency that bothers me – makes sense, especially considering the guff most dailies are filled with. It’s the bland, three-pronged quote attack from the main men that riles me. Boring and meaningless. Not one ever says ‘it’s a crying shame but that’s the way it goes’. Surely principles matter a bit, editors, MDs etc. Or is it just the dollar that matters?

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  • August 5, 2011 at 10:53 am
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    Excellent, now the Express and Echo can look forward to selling 17,000 copies per week as opposed to 17,000 each day.

    Reporters will be axed, editorial quality will plummet and stories will be mopped up by a growing army of gloating bloggers.

    Nobody should be fooled into thinking there will be less churned-out garbage in these hefty weekly publications. There’s a lot more white space to fill and the result is the same old rubbish – just much older.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 11:00 am
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    Of course its a step in the right direction. The men at the top are paid vast amounts of wonga to get it right. Who are humble hacks to argue with them.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 11:28 am
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    I think it is arguable that the Express and Echo lost its way in terms of content, format and its target market some years ago. This is the natural conclusion. As stated elsewhere, Exeter is a thriving city and should be able to support a good, clearly compiled and informative local weekly newspaper. With regard to the Herald Express in torquay the jury is still out – a £1 cover price is likely to prove to be a crucial error of judgement and once the initial premotional phase is over I suspect the circulation will settle at a figure somewhat below that currently being circulated. In both cases short sighted management and a confused etorial strategy have both played their part to the disservice of both readers and staff.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 12:04 pm
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    So, Emmerdale viewing figures are down pecause people ‘don’t have time’ to watch it – solution: scrap the Monday to Thursday episodes and make Friday’s three hours long. Genius.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 3:04 pm
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    next day regionals are tired and stale. might as well shove it all in one weekly paper.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 3:42 pm
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    Two points – 1/ The “senior management” at northcliffe ( sadly it does not warrant an “N” any more does it) appear to be just unable to deal with the ongoing pace of change within the media sector and are just clutching at straws with the resultant hemorrhaging of commercial and editorial talent as well as of course dosh!!!
    2/ In print is “dead” long live online – only problem is that their digital platforms such as motors.co.uk are also not delivering across the board particularly when compared to the other major players.
    As a number of you have stated the maths just don’t appear to work – but to be fair they have to do something – don’t they!
    Resulting in a double whammy!

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  • August 5, 2011 at 4:10 pm
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    Makes you wonder what the Monday to Wednesday circulation was? I do hope the new weekly reflects the editions that were produced towards the end of the week.

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  • August 5, 2011 at 4:22 pm
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    Last One Out – Northcliffe would probably just turn the lights out on the ones left and expect them to work in the dark.
    More talented journalists lost, when will it end?

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  • August 5, 2011 at 4:25 pm
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    “It is clear to us that they value local news and their local newspaper but the majority of them simply do not have the time to buy it every day. We therefore feel that a weekly title would be much better aligned with the needs of our customers.”

    I’m sure there are a multitude or reasons why people don’t buy the Echo six days a week but I’m not sure the time it takes to buy a copy is a major factor. That said, if this is the case then doesn’t it just go to demonstrate the shortsightedness of getting rid of the vendors who sold the paper in the High Street?

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  • August 12, 2011 at 3:48 pm
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    ‘Youdothemaths’ needs to, erm, do the maths.

    It’s all very well to do sums about circulation revenue but that’s only part of the story. Almost all of the ad revenue from the old daily will have been retained and the product is now much better placed – with a bigger audience – to attract new business. And surely ‘Youdothemaths’ also needs to factor in the cost savings – distribution, newsprint, staff and more.

    My guess is that the weekly publishing cycle will be more profitable than the daily was both in terms of margin and hard cash.

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  • August 18, 2011 at 3:31 pm
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    I’ve done the maths (albeit on the back of a fag packet)… have you?!

    Research indicates local papers derive circa 40 per cent of their revenue from newspaper sales and 60 per cent from advertising.

    Let’s say the Echo currently sells 100,000 copies a week, bringing in somewhere in the region of 40k. If the weekly paper were to sell 25,000 copies at £1 that equates to 25k – or a 15k downturn in revenue per week.

    If savings in terms of staff and overheads equate to two-thirds of that figure – and I can’t conceive how they could possibly add up to any more – then that means advertising revenue will have to increase by 8.25 per cent, ie 5k per week, for the paper to standstill.

    Given the state of the economy – not to mention the nous (or lack of) demonstrated by the Echo’s advertising sales department – I can’t see that happening any time soon.

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