Soaring web traffic help soften the blow of plummeting print sales in today’s ABC figures for the second half of 2013.
While regional dailies such as the Bolton News and Lancashire Telegraph lost around a third of their circulations, their corresponding online platforms grew their audience.
For instance, while the Bolton News’ print circulation was down 32.2pc, the audience for its website theboltonnews.co.uk grew by 45.4pc.
Here are the full multi-platform figures comparing average print circulation and daily unique users for six of the regional publishers – Johnston Press, Loacl World, Newsquest, Trinity Mirror, the Midland News Association and the KM Group.
| Sales | UUs | Change | |
| Johnston Network | – | 716,555 | 29pc |
| Blackpoolgazette.co.uk | – | 21,179 | 25.2pc |
| The Gazette, Blackpool | 15,650 | – | -11.5pc |
| Halifaxcourier.co.uk | – | 11,770 | 23.6pc |
| Halifax Courier | 16,747 | – | -10.9pc |
| LEP.co.uk | – | 19,722 | 17pc |
| Lancashire Evening Post | 15,659 | – | -16.3pc |
| Peterboroughtoday.co.uk | – | 16,601 | 21.1pc |
| Portsmouth.co.uk | – | 29,744 | 1.9pc |
| The News & Sports Mail | 29,662 | – | -15.2pc |
| Scotsman.com | – | 136,318 | 35.8pc |
| www.scotsman.com/jobs | – | 2,502 | -24.3pc |
| The Scotsman | 29,452 | – | – |
| Sunderlandecho.com | – | 24,312 | 55.3pc |
| Sunderland Echo & Football Echo | 22,686 | – | -15pc |
| Thestar.co.uk | – | 37,598 | 26.1pc |
| Sheffield Star & Green ‘Un | 24,544 | – | -23.3pc |
| Yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk | – | 46,186 | 18.7pc |
| Yorkshire Evening Post | 26,038 | – | -16.5pc |
| Yorkshire Post | 32,156 | – | -10.5pc |
| – | – | 12.6pc | |
| Kent Online (KM Group) network | – | 49,015 | 96.35pc |
| Kent Messenger Weekly Newspaper Group | 93,423 | – | -7.2pc |
| KM Extra Group (Kent) | 151,427 | – | -12pc |
| Local World Network (Web) | – | 622,201 | 67.3pc |
| Bristol Post (Web) | – | 40,489 | 45pc |
| The Post | 27,117 | – | -15.8pc |
| Cambridge News (Web) | – | 32,740 | 40.3pc |
| Cambridge News | 17,763 | – | -6.6pc |
| Derby Telegraph (Web) | – | 33,695 | 45.8pc |
| Derby Telegraph | 25,852 | – | -10.9pc |
| Gloucester Citizen/Gloucestershire Echo (Web) | – | 27,368 | 12pc |
| Gloucestershire Echo | 12,033 | – | -14.7pc |
| Gloucester Citizen | 13,891 | – | -18.9pc |
| Grimsby Telegraph | 20,896 | – | -6.5pc |
| Hull Daily Mail (Web) | – | 46,784 | 45.9pc |
| Hull Daily Mail | 36,028 | – | -7.7pc |
| Leicester Mercury (Web) | – | 37,243 | 32pc |
| Leicester Mercury | 36,004 | – | -14.4pc |
| Lincolnshire Echo (Web) | – | 18,327 | 41.9pc |
| Lincolnshire Echo | 19,687 | – | -4.7pc |
| Nottingham Post (Web) | – | 50,275 | 52.8pc |
| Nottingham Post | 25,180 | – | -13.4pc |
| Plymouth Herald (Web) | – | 31,823 | 32.7pc |
| Plymouth – The Herald | 22,858 | – | -11.3pc |
| Scunthorpe Telegraph | 18,412 | – | 0.7pc |
| South Wales Evening Post (Web) | – | 25,269 | 35.6pc |
| South Wales Evening Post | 30,582 | – | -12.3pc |
| Stoke Sentinel | – | 32,628 | 22pc |
| The Sentinel | 39,137 | – | -10.7pc |
| Midland News Association Network | – | 106,328 | 44.1pc |
| Expressandstar.com | – | 80,219 | 46.6pc |
| Express & Star | 82,448 | – | -12.1pc |
| Shropshire Star | 39,168 | – | -15.7pc |
| Newsquest Media Group | – | 731,495 | 40.6pc |
| dailyecho.co.uk | – | 40,942 | 30.2pc |
| Southern Daily Echo | 23,278 | – | -17pc |
| eveningtimes.co.uk | – | 24,587 | 74.6pc |
| Glasgow Evening Times | 35,773 | – | -15.7pc |
| heraldscotland.com | – | 69,440 | 54pc |
| The Herald | 38,939 | – | -9.8pc |
| Sunday Herald | 23,907 | – | -7.5pc |
| lancashiretelegraph.co.uk | 28,059 | 1.1pc | |
| Lancashire Telegraph | 13,280 | – | -33.9pc |
| newsshopper.co.uk | – | 19,523 | 63.3pc |
| Bromley News Shopper | 65,459 | – | 5.2pc |
| Dartford and Gravesend News Shopper | 28,075 | – | 5.3pc |
| Lewisham & Greenwich News Shopper | 51,718 | – | 4.6pc |
| Oxfordmail.co.uk | – | 19,223 | 28.1pc |
| Oxford Mail | 13,201 | – | -22.7pc |
| Swindonadvertiser.co.uk | – | 21,043 | 30.5pc |
| Swindon Advertiser | 12,691 | – | -21.9pc |
| theargus.co.uk | – | 33,868 | 32.7pc |
| The Argus, Brighton | 15,153 | – | -21.1pc |
| theboltonnews.co.uk | – | 25,683 | 45.4pc |
| The Bolton News | 12,622 | – | -32.2pc |
| thenorthernecho.co.uk | – | 33,990 | 43.5pc |
| Northern Echo | 31,868 | – | -13.3pc |
| thepress.co.uk | – | 30,278 | 24.7pc |
| The Press, York | 20,551 | – | -10.7pc |
| thetelegraphandargus.co.uk | – | 34,556 | 24.1pc |
| Bradford Telegraph & Argus | 19,970 | – | -12.9pc |
| Trinity Mirror Regional Network | – | 659,518 | 23.3pc |
| www.birminghammail.net | – | 68,853 | 65.9pc |
| Birmingham Mail | 39,602 | – | -1pc |
| www.chroniclelive.co.uk | – | 57,011 | 64.1pc |
| The Chronicle, Newcastle | 40,734 | – | -9.9pc |
| www.coventrytelegraph.net | – | 27,060 | 17.9pc |
| Coventry Telegraph | 26,021 | – | -13.1pc |
| www.dailypost.co.uk | – | 19,599 | 15.7pc |
| Daily Post (Wales) | 27,420 | – | -8.3pc |
| getreading.co.uk | – | 16,465 | 34.8pc |
| Get Reading | 65,185 | – | -2.5pc |
| www.examiner.co.uk | – | 19,794 | 33.2pc |
| Huddersfield Daily Examiner | 16,943 | – | -7.6pc |
| www.gazettelive.co.uk | – | 33,317 | 59.9pc |
| Teesside Evening Gazette | 30,636 | – | -14.9pc |
| www.thejournal.co.uk | – | 13,629 | -12.1pc |
| The Journal | 19,160 | – | -16pc |
| www.liverpoolecho.co.uk | – | 124,238 | 58.6pc |
| Liverpool Echo | 71,541 | – | -8.1pc |
| manchestereveningnews.co.uk | – | 140,959 | 34.3pc |
| Manchester Evening News | 70,462 | – | -5.7pc |
| www.Walesonline.co.uk | – | 85,475 | 35.5pc |
| Western Mail | 22,849 | – | -0.8pc |
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“Soaring web traffic help soften the blow of plummeting print”.
Not so sure.
A print reader pays 60 or 70 pence per day (or a massive £1.30 in the case of The Scotsman), lives locally (and is likely to respond to the ads) and spends 20 minutes or so with the title. 2 or 3 other people probably read the same paper.
A ‘unique user’ spends a couple of minutes on the website, possibly just keeps up to date with the local football team, is often from outside the area and gets fed up with the obtrusive, irrelevant advertising on the site. And they don’t hand over any money.
I know which one I’d rather have.
And how many print readers are now so fed up with the unjustified cover price hikes that they have sussed they can access exactly the same content online……for nothing ?
Celebrating the growth of unique users is a shallow, convenient tactic for newspaper CEO’s and MD’s to ignore the lamentable circulation performance of their titles. Print still pays the bills.
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