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Pro-independence daily's sales fall by two thirds

Sales of a pro-independence Scottish daily have fallen to around a third of its launch edition.

The National, which was launched by the Newsquest-owned Herald & Times Group in November, sold 60,000 copies of its inaugural issue – with 10,000 digital subscribers also signing up.

But in an interview with Media Guardian, Tim Blott, Newsquest regional managing director, revealed sales had now dropped below 20,000.

It is estimated around 15,000 readers purchase its print edition, while between 2,500 and 3,000 subscribe digitally at £1.50 a week.

The National

 

Said Tim: “[The National] went into a seasonal lull in terms of circulations.

“Sales [have] dropped below 20,000 but we are still well ahead of my original expectations of the paper.

“The model still works and it is still making money.”

The National is produced in Glasgow and is edited by Richard Walker of the Sunday Herald.

Tim added he expected to see a boost in sales in the run up to the General Election in May.

He said: “We still see a lot of potential in the paper, particularly in the run-up to the UK election and the importance of the Scottish vote.

“I would expect as we get close to the UK general election, and because Scotland has become more politically engaged because of the [Scottish] referendum, as the campaign builds people will take more and more interest in the outcome of the UK general election [and] we would expect that to flow through to sales.”

5 comments

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  • January 28, 2015 at 8:58 am
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    You would need a heart of stone not to laugh….breaking up the UK not so popular after all, eh. What with plummeting North Sea oil prospects and an ebola victim who could only be saved in England, I think the Scots are very lucky to be still part of Britain.

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  • January 28, 2015 at 10:37 am
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    Well said, onlooker. How will the shrill S N P leadership put positive spin on this?

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  • January 28, 2015 at 11:12 am
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    @onlooker — rubbish.All the indications are that support for independence is increasing in Scotland rather than anything else. I’d say it’s more like the National is finding its natural resting point after the initial rush. At the end of the day, it’s going to face exactly the same commercial pressures as every other newspaper is these days.

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  • January 31, 2015 at 7:17 pm
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    In fact, to find anything like 20,000 new daily sales for an issues-based new paper in a country the size of Scotland is a major achievement. I was in Scotland on holiday just prior to the referendum. I could not believe the arrogance and deception of the UK politicians as they struggled to turn around the growing support for independence. This despite there being sound reasons to try and save the UK. The single-sided daily pages of rant in some London pages must have cut adrift thousands of Scottish readers. In consequence, to ensure I have the whole story I have subscribed online. This is an impressive paper from small resources and I have learned a great deal from it, far beyond the referendum issue which drew me in.

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