Three sister dailies have increased their web readerships over the past year – although the same publisher’s most viewed website showed a slight online decline over the same period.
Both Archant and the Midlands News Association have posted six-monthly ABC digital figures for the period January to June 2019.
ABC measured the daily average unique browsers reading the websites of Archant dailies the East Anglian Daily Times, Eastern Daily Press, Ipswich Star and Norwich Evening News during that period.
The results revealed year-on-year increases of 8pc and 13pc for the Ipswich-based EADT and the Star respectively, while the News recorded a rise of 45pc.
However, its Norwich-based sister daily the EDP, while having more than double the readership online of the EADT, recorded a 2pc year-on-year decrease when using the same metric.
There was better news for the EDP on Facebook and Twitter, where all of its accounts – covering news, sport and business – recorded increases in followers when comparing the first halves of 2018 and 2019.
Social media figures were also published by ABC for MNA dailies the Shropshire Star and Wolverhampton’s Express & Star.
The Shropshire Star showed an increase of 15pc in Facebook likes and 3pc in Twitter followers while the E&S posted a 4pc rise in Twitter followers.
Newsquest’s online figures have also been published by its new auditor BPA Worldwide.
The BPA results show figures for the company’s daily titles’ websites, which are broken down month-by-month.
Standout findings include Southampton’s Southern Daily Echo recording more than 13m pages views in March, while four titles – the Northern Echo, Brighton daily The Argus, Glasgow-based daily The Herald and the Glasgow Evening Times – all topped one million unique visitors in a month at least once during the same period.
Of the other big publishers, neither Reach plc nor JPIMedia currently publish separate audience figures for their web brands.
1. Table 1. Archant and MNA digital audience figures published by ABC for the period January to June 2019.
| Product/Metric | Jan – Jun 2019 | % Change YoY |
| Facebook Likes | ||
| East Anglian Daily Times | 22994 | 17% |
| Eastern Daily Press | 101103 | 8% |
| Express & Star | 131852 | 5% |
| Ipswich Star | 28950 | 21% |
| Norwich – Evening News | 29221 | 16% |
| Shropshire Star | 52462 | 15% |
| Twitter Followers | ||
| EADT Business | 2558 | 10% |
| East Anglian Daily Times | 53628 | 6% |
| EDP Business | 10990 | 4% |
| EDP Sport | 4621 | 8% |
| EDP24 | 105584 | 5% |
| Express & Star | 149424 | 4% |
| Ipswich Star | 20905 | 8% |
| Norwich – Evening News | 61443 | 5% |
| Shropshire Star | 86971 | 3% |
| Daily Unique Browsers (Archant) | ||
| East Anglian Daily Times | 47796 | 8% |
| Eastern Daily Press | 102801 | -2% |
| Ipswich Star | 38240 | 13% |
| Norwich – Evening News | 27123 | 45% |
Table 2. Newsquest web audience figures published by BPA for the period January to June 2019.
| Title | Month | Page Views | Visits | Unique Visitors |
| Bournemouth Daily Echo | January | 10,648,430 | 3,090,422 | 857,161 |
| February | 9,847,810 | 2,923,803 | 846,045 | |
| March | 10,211,189 | 3,116,013 | 873,387 | |
| April | 9,619,748 | 2,933,892 | 811,667 | |
| May | 10,618,691 | 3,358,863 | 945,492 | |
| June | 11,949,484 | 3,338,453 | 967,776 | |
| The Telegraph and Argus | January | 10,363,931 | 3,078,477 | 926,521 |
| February | 11,949,047 | 2,964,891 | 884,240 | |
| March | 10,781,642 | 3,166,301 | 940,999 | |
| April | 8,943,341 | 2,828,967 | 837,276 | |
| May | 9,559,524 | 2,997,157 | 956,843 | |
| June | 7,860,314 | 2,896,312 | 933,869 | |
| Carlisle News and Star East | January | 5,746,578 | 1,839,497 | 599,404 |
| February | 5,226,236 | 1,656,458 | 535,816 | |
| March | 5,784,045 | 1,799,004 | 519,054 | |
| April | 5,387,169 | 1,704,013 | 453,271 | |
| May | 5,089,448 | 1,559,709 | 468,928 | |
| June | 5,484,357 | 1,797,927 | 552,940 | |
| Carlisle News and Star West | January | 5,746,578 | 1,839,497 | 599,404 |
| February | 5,226,236 | 1,656,458 | 535,816 | |
| March | 5,784,045 | 1,799,004 | 519,054 | |
| April | 5,387,169 | 1,704,013 | 453,271 | |
| May | 5,089,448 | 1,559,709 | 468,928 | |
| June | 5,484,357 | 1,797,927 | 552,940 | |
| Colchester Gazette | January | 2,821,821 | 1,125,661 | 444,714 |
| February | 2,811,101 | 1,145,098 | 455,281 | |
| March | 3,215,136 | 1,171,065 | 429,601 | |
| April | 2,636,501 | 1,103,464 | 406,731 | |
| May | 2,962,578 | 1,286,225 | 516,416 | |
| June | 2,812,954 | 1,217,284 | 453,834 | |
| The Northern Echo | January | 7,161,441 | 2,741,559 | 1,248,414 |
| February | 5,380,976 | 2,108,214 | 976,879 | |
| March | 6,169,497 | 2,283,516 | 1,065,643 | |
| April | 5,766,869 | 2,132,200 | 980,902 | |
| May | 6,569,904 | 2,693,604 | 1,196,895 | |
| June | 6,053,562 | 2,569,986 | 1,151,785 | |
| Dorset Echo | January | 3,773,217 | 1,116,743 | 371,456 |
| February | 3,145,553 | 1,017,586 | 358,817 | |
| March | 3,614,136 | 1,092,741 | 384,854 | |
| April | 3,169,460 | 1,068,312 | 373,987 | |
| May | 3,546,458 | 1,158,819 | 396,220 | |
| June | 3,684,147 | 1,175,191 | 390,654 | |
| Lancashire Telegraph | January | 8,485,744 | 2,634,400 | 911,885 |
| February | 6,453,017 | 2,055,101 | 720,382 | |
| March | 7,496,954 | 2,396,006 | 862,378 | |
| April | 7,183,844 | 2,307,683 | 850,797 | |
| May | 7,586,840 | 2,627,297 | 958,481 | |
| June | 6,500,007 | 2,349,899 | 797,336 | |
| Oxford Mail | January | 6,311,539 | 2,097,541 | 739,057 |
| February | 6,156,678 | 1,924,072 | 679,964 | |
| March | 7,011,836 | 2,324,090 | 776,648 | |
| April | 5,984,911 | 2,130,155 | 707,699 | |
| May | 6,094,492 | 2,260,423 | 811,589 | |
| June | 6,240,351 | 2,441,208 | 833,474 | |
| South Wales Argus | January | 5,837,266 | 1,970,663 | 673,142 |
| February | 5,821,354 | 2,062,273 | 849,904 | |
| March | 5,917,809 | 1,989,645 | 816,189 | |
| April | 5,245,521 | 1,917,520 | 654,605 | |
| May | 5,557,050 | 2,276,127 | 835,506 | |
| June | 5,290,650 | 2,324,748 | 901,467 | |
| Southern Daily Echo | January | 10,318,743 | 3,037,267 | 911,022 |
| February | 10,406,296 | 2,734,409 | 898,550 | |
| March | 13,153,283 | 3,056,081 | 889,715 | |
| April | 9,693,982 | 2,744,447 | 841,489 | |
| May | 10,908,733 | 2,893,190 | 935,551 | |
| June | 10,671,459 | 3,101,529 | 966,337 | |
| Southend, Basildon & Canvey Echo | January | 5,308,796 | 2,093,350 | 732,592 |
| February | 4,554,285 | 1,798,280 | 608,628 | |
| March | 5,061,166 | 2,128,274 | 745,108 | |
| April | 5,075,094 | 2,208,288 | 744,993 | |
| May | 4,975,678 | 2,102,863 | 714,700 | |
| June | 5,083,747 | 2,161,439 | 768,485 | |
| Swindon Advertiser | January | 5,305,760 | 1,872,049 | 602,379 |
| February | 5,393,599 | 1,779,205 | 552,823 | |
| March | 5,471,785 | 1,735,836 | 550,166 | |
| April | 4,614,264 | 1,680,294 | 493,419 | |
| May | 5,023,548 | 1,860,243 | 561,362 | |
| June | 4,617,765 | 1,720,378 | 477,612 | |
| The Argus Brighton | January | 7,429,883 | 2,592,002 | 952,004 |
| February | 7,052,098 | 2,394,806 | 902,032 | |
| March | 7,103,562 | 2,475,376 | 908,233 | |
| April | 7,576,134 | 2,403,908 | 860,351 | |
| May | 8,797,573 | 3,228,031 | 1,183,825 | |
| June | 7,767,115 | 2,753,632 | 975,268 | |
| The Bolton News | January | 8,866,046 | 2,770,644 | 809,684 |
| February | 7,821,254 | 2,358,980 | 651,009 | |
| March | 9,181,653 | 2,611,347 | 703,542 | |
| April | 7,314,457 | 2,487,670 | 686,928 | |
| May | 8,444,685 | 2,862,100 | 852,348 | |
| June | 8,078,476 | 2,624,984 | 739,297 | |
| The Leader | January | 2,415,867 | 907,659 | 331,772 |
| February | 2,160,453 | 846,299 | 318,109 | |
| March | 2,286,367 | 882,924 | 331,837 | |
| April | 2,358,471 | 939,048 | 341,207 | |
| May | 2,123,508 | 877,025 | 315,941 | |
| June | 2,133,578 | 868,444 | 296,779 | |
| The Mail | January | 4,070,741 | 1,087,144 | 310,617 |
| February | 3,505,073 | 1,017,434 | 307,677 | |
| March | 4,421,789 | 1,218,409 | 351,879 | |
| April | 3,737,438 | 1,085,804 | 297,794 | |
| May | 4,593,063 | 1,203,125 | 337,437 | |
| June | 4,305,967 | 1,284,742 | 378,684 | |
| Worcester News | January | 4,266,382 | 1,431,016 | 488,498 |
| February | 3,470,376 | 1,173,972 | 417,831 | |
| March | 3,731,219 | 1,311,589 | 473,359 | |
| April | 3,676,876 | 1,298,843 | 435,984 | |
| May | 3,612,494 | 1,252,174 | 434,689 | |
| June | 3,910,436 | 1,337,914 | 463,253 | |
| York Press | January | 8,151,587 | 2,208,882 | 683,972 |
| February | 8,226,373 | 2,007,864 | 645,625 | |
| March | 7,625,348 | 2,234,648 | 720,594 | |
| April | 6,776,984 | 2,161,211 | 696,282 | |
| May | 6,032,229 | 1,937,367 | 613,954 | |
| June | 6,397,488 | 2,119,923 | 732,218 | |
| The Herald (Scotland) | January | 4,667,806 | 2,446,183 | 1,518,844 |
| February | 4,600,783 | 2,462,072 | 1,549,961 | |
| March | 5,134,835 | 2,775,362 | 1,762,647 | |
| April | 5,112,473 | 2,862,583 | 1,801,473 | |
| May | 5,520,748 | 3,204,806 | 1,962,396 | |
| June | 5,127,546 | 2,921,757 | 1,823,809 | |
| Glasgow Evening Times | January | 5,563,925 | 2,336,810 | 870,957 |
| February | 5,406,361 | 2,145,960 | 827,300 | |
| March | 6,262,123 | 2,496,241 | 964,227 | |
| April | 6,710,548 | 2,853,202 | 1,111,580 | |
| May | 7,704,751 | 3,065,960 | 1,185,188 | |
| June | 6,364,179 | 3,132,037 | 1,233,483 | |
| The National | January | 2,110,611 | 1,370,393 | 625,739 |
| February | 2,388,056 | 1,546,747 | 676,225 | |
| March | 2,676,680 | 1,785,595 | 841,652 | |
| April | 2,233,475 | 1,474,089 | 720,116 | |
| May | 2,363,471 | 1,492,427 | 737,981 | |
| June | 2,608,574 | 1,692,328 | 827,900 |
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Numbers up must mean increased revenue, surely? Oh….
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Archant ABC paid for copy sales continue to plummet with the EDP and NEN in free fall while the free to view websites are seeing more non paying traffic which is seen as a success
It’s a funny old world innit
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The Eastern Daily Press not only continues losing paid for paper readers, now its losing its online website readership too..
How much longer can this once popular,high selling daily title be allowed to disintegrate before changes are made and action is taken?
Shocking how far it’s fallen and how it’s been allowed to fall unchecked.
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Glancing at the ABCs and cross referencing the continued big copy sale losses for the Norwich evening news and the 2 Ipswich dailies against the same titles increased free to read web numbers goes to show if you give something away people will take it, ask them to pay and they’ll give it a wide berth, something anyone considering a paywall ought to bear in mind.
Believing digital growth figures are a measure of success is a dangerous assumption as so far no publisher, including Archant, has been able to capitalise on increased web growth numbers by monetising it sufficiently enough against the the ongoing revenue decline in print ad sales.
As for the EDP this title appears to be in an ever downward spiral on both fronts losing readers both in print and online which must be cause for concern particularly at a time when reader engagement is deemed a valuable commodity.
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Once again the comments blame senior management. When will all you embittered hacks wake up to the role played by your beloved untouchable Editors. All were members of their management teams including Editorial Directors at every publisher. Only twice did I encounter an Editor willing to stand up for his principles, one of whom left the industry & the other saw any career opportunities quickly curtailed. The rest all took the promotions & salary increases while acquiescing. Yes I as a senior manager was also responsible for taking bad decisions but often had no say or control over the ones that helped destroy the quality of the titles under my control. Editors are still chasing the digital dream, often being quoted on here bragging about their digital figures but never once mentioning their decimated print sales. Likewise whenever an Editor leaves the plaudits on here claim they were a true newspaper man who always fought for his papers & staff. Sorry guys while I’m sure many do equally as many are as self centred as the rest of the management teams you regularly castigate.
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I agree @ceasar, weak editors, some promoted above their abilities and whose only interest is self preservation ,are indeed to blame for going along with idiotic strategies they must have known to be wrong and which very often affected people’s livelihoods,but unless any senior manager stands up for what he or she believes in and makes a stand they are as responsible as those above them making the short term knee jerk decisions, decisions which have reduced individual publishers and the industry down to what it’s becone today.
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Caesar, the old ‘gnarled’ editor who fought for quality was made extinct by the senior management in favour of ‘yes’ types.
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Philip/Saddened Journo I stood up along with the Editors I mentioned. Our view was by all means build digital but in addition to strong print titles not instead of. Yes print had a limited future but probably 5-10 years of profitability more than it’s current state brought about by forcing readers & advertisers down a digital route that realises very little revenue from either. Reward for disagreeing was no support from colleagues & a swift exit from the company. All I’m asking is that commenters on here leave off the constant every senior manager was useless crusade.
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@ceasar
I can only speak and comment as I find which, in my experience of a well known publishing group who were bragging they’d be the biggest and best by 2017, my view is, over the past five/ten years is sorry, but EVERY senior manager WAS indeed useless.
Most are gone but some remain and are still surrounded by the yes men which @SaddenedJourno mentioned
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