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Dailies-to-weeklies’ sales up 77pc say Johnston Press

Regional publisher Johnston Press is claiming an average 77pc sales increase for the five titles it recently switched from daily to weekly publication.

The Scarborough News, Halifax Courier, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Northants Telegraph and Peterborough Telegraph all went weekly at the end of last month as part of a major relaunch of the group’s paid-for titles.

Speaking at today’s Annual General Meeting of the group, chief executive Ashley Highfield gave a presentation to shareholders on the initial sales of the relaunched titles.

He said those switching from daily to weekly were showing an average increase of 77pc over the average daily sale prior to relaunch, while other relaunched weekly titles such as the Bucks Herald and Derbyshire Times averaged rises of 8pc.

In his presentation, Ashley said some titles had put on sales despite increases in their cover price.

For example, the West Sussex County Times relaunched at a higher price and still recorded increased a year-on-year increase of 19pc.

Said Ashley: “While these are very early indications, being the first week of the relaunch, and benefiting from promotional support, they are still very encouraging.

“While we obviously have to be cautious in extrapolating trends from the initial week post relaunch we are convinced that the relaunch programme will significantly benefit group circulation revenues.

“We will be paying close attention to the trends established over the medium term and will update the market as appropriate.”

The AGM itself saw a minor shareholders revolt with just over 6pc of shareholders voting against the directors’ remuneration report which sets senior salaries and bonuses.

During the meeting representatives from the National Union of Journalists attempted to quiz company leaders about the relaunch, including asking which would be the next daily title to go weekly.

Assistant Northern organiser Lawrence Shaw also asked what profit margins Johnston Press was aiming to achieve at its titles.

He said afterwards: “They said the average was around 17pc and that is where it needs to be. We think the members need to be asking if that is really achievable in a recessionary environment. I am not sure that amount of profit will be able to be delivered indefinitely.”

Commenting on the sales increases for the daily-to-weekly titles, Lawrence said they were good news but added: “Let’s not forget this has come on the back of a lot of people not just losing their jobs but leaving journalism altogether.”

Deputy general secretary Barry Fitzpatrick added:  “This is a bold strategy of chief executive Ashley Highfield at a time when new solutions are needed. But he must not lose sight of the fact that he will not succeed without quality journalism.

“We need to know more details. How will the weekly paper and seven-days-a- week daily digital output integrate and how will it affect the working practices of staff?

“There will clearly be savings on print but how will it recoup money lost from cover prices and advertising revenue?  These are questions the shareholders should be asking.

“We have also said that shareholders must ensure that senior management consult with staff and have regular meetings with the NUJ .”

7 comments

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  • June 13, 2012 at 2:54 pm
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    Funny that I noticed a large pile of the Courier last night in my local Coop didn t look sold out to me………..but I believe that this is a normal trend. The real value would be an analysis of 3 and then 6 months

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  • June 13, 2012 at 3:22 pm
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    Just to be clear, are we talking about an average 77% increase in the average daily sale per week?
    If so, there’s there’s usually one day a week when a daily sells significantly more than the others.
    For comparison purposes, it would be far better to use the bumper sales day figure – but I don’t suppose they have.
    That’s the beauty of statistics. You can manipulate them to suit!

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  • June 13, 2012 at 3:56 pm
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    Yeah one of the papers sold 70,000 a week approx over six day (12,000 a day average).

    That would mean it would now be selling close to, or more than, 100,000 copies a week.

    Not sure that will turn out to be the case.

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  • June 13, 2012 at 4:21 pm
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    How bizarre is that accounting?

    So, a daily-turned-weekly beats an average DAILY sale by 77%?

    Let’s say that paper sold an average 100,000 per day when a daily, that means the new weekly sold 177,000.

    But the weekly sale of the daily would have been (for six days a week) 600,000, so how, in any conceivable way, can that be construed a sale INCREASE?

    And the NUJ calls it “good news”? No wonder they’re on their arse if they can’t work out figure massaging that simple…

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  • June 14, 2012 at 9:09 am
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    Many talented and hard-working people, not just in newsrooms but across other JP departments, have lost their jobs as the company tries frantically to balance its books. The fact remains that if you’d won £120 million on the Euromillions last weekend and offered it to JP bosses to help clear the company’s debts, they’d still need twice that much again to get out of the mess they’ve landed everyone in. The megalomaniacs escaped with huge bonuses while the ordinary Joes and Joannes are left looking over their shoulders to see who’s next for the bullet.

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  • June 14, 2012 at 10:54 am
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    @ “Me”

    Would you have rather I said “the sales are appalling and the papers are clearly failures”?

    It’s very easy to throw stones anonymously from the outside, but remember there are journalists left trying to make these papers a success.

    By all means stick the knife into the NUJ’s cashflow issues if it makes you feel good, but lay off kicking other journalists. Remember there are many decent people still working in the regional press trying to make the best of the hand they have been dealt by the bloodsucking corporations.

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  • June 14, 2012 at 11:33 am
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    And remember this will include ‘novelty value’ sales – people buying it because it’s new and they want to see what it’s like. Ironically, this will be on the back of heavy marketing in the ‘platform’ that is perfect for making communities aware of these things – the LOCAL DAILY paper. From what I know these initial sales figures drop off rapidly, so even a manipulated 77% figure is unachieveable in the long run. More relevant question, what is the LOSS in weekly circulation revenue, because you can better your bottom dollar there is a hefty one. Sorry, forgot, the bottom dollar has already been spent.

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