Several of Trinity Mirror’s biggest regional dailies saw sales increasing in February compared to the previous month according to ABC figures out today.
Monthly audits for the group’s flagship daily and Sunday titles saw seven out of 15 post circulation increases.
They were the Coventry Telegraph (up 1.5pc), Manchester Evening News (0.9pc), Sunday Mecury (1.4pc), Teesside Evening Gazette (0.9pc), Newcastle Chronicle (0.7pc), Western Mail (0.3pc) and Wales on Sunday, which posted a 6.3pc rise.
However all 15 titles showed a circulation drop when compared to the average for the period January to June 2013.
The biggest faller was the South Wales Echo, down 15,4pc compared to the average figure for the first half of 2013, while the best-performing title was its Cardiff stablemate the Western Mail, down just 1.9pc.
Full figures for the month showing the comparison with last year’s average for the period January to June are as follows:
| Title | Feb 2014 | Jan- Jun ABCs | % Change |
| Birmingham Mail | 37,956 | 40,280 | -5.77 |
| Coventry Telegraph | 25,004 | 27,712 | -9.77 |
| Huddersfield Daily Examiner | 16,279 | 17,704 | -8.05 |
| Liverpool Echo | 67,370 | 74,984 | -10.15 |
| Manchester Evening News | 70,339 | 73,622 | -4.46 |
| Newcastle Chronicle | 39,748 | 43,308 | -8.22 |
| North Wales Daily Post | 26,635 | 28,331 | -5.99 |
| South Wales Echo | 23,432 | 27,700 | -15.41 |
| Sunday Echo | 32,734 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sunday Mercury | 28,149 | 31,982 | -11.98 |
| Sunday Sun | 33,903 | 37,588 | -9.80 |
| Teesside Evening Gazette | 30,137 | 33,013 | -8.71 |
| The Journal | 18,228 | 20,875 | -12.68 |
| Wales on Sunday | 19,567 | 23,416 | -16.44 |
| Western Mail | 23,273 | 23,723 | -1.90 |
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A number of the Trinity Mirror daily titles are now part-paid, part-free. It looks to me like the ‘free’ element is increasing and this is masking the underlying sales performance of these titles. For example, Manchester Evening News – 61% of sale in Feb was paid-for but it was 63% in December and 65% in the first half of 2013.
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Why bother publishing the figures this way? It’s all nonsense because every month is a different story.
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I don’t think the absolute number of the frees is increasing, it’s just as the paid for sale falls the % of free pick up becomes larger.
The key figure is what is the combined audience – paid for sale / free pick up and web views combined. If the overall audience figure is maintained / increased then you have a better advertising proposition as you’re selling eyeballs.
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Interesting analysis by above. Puts the corporate bull into true perspective.
I’ve checked with my local newsagents (I’ve known them for years) on the MEN’s figures, and the numbers sold are going down and down and down.
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That’s a funny way to look at the world, enough is enough. Just because the story is different every month, the figures shouldn’t be published? You should work in a council press office, not a newsroom, if you haven’t already left.
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I agree with you, John. My point was more to flag that it’s erroneous to reference “sales increasing” when the paid-for element within the overall circulation figure is going down.
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