ABC: Metro papers continue to fall
Metropolitan newspapers saw a 3% year-on-year drop in the latest circulation figures, with Fairfax Media’s The Australian Financial Review still seeing the biggest fall.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations results for the three months to the end of March was softer compared to the same period last year, which industry body The Newspaper Works is attributing to a number of major news stories that broke at the beginning of 2009.
Events that featured heavily in the news included the Victorian bushfires, the federal Government’s household stimulus package and overseas, the inauguration on January 20 of US President Barack Obama.
However, the numbers show that this time last year also saw a general decline in newspaper circulation, albeit not as steep as this time around.
You have the herald sun rising by 1.74%, but your numbers have it dropping from 518K to 509K.
Hi bospub,
Thanks for pointing that out. That’s now been amended in the copy and table.
Cheers,
Camille – Mumbrella
My guess is the AFR circulation drop has something to do with the bulk copies purchased by companies and put on managers’ desks each morning.
It’s one of the first things to be cut during a recession, but, and as I’ve already said I’m guessing here, the timing of subscription renewals means the cut comes after the worst is over.
It’s a nasty cycle. Advertising in newspapers drops because ad spends are being allocated elsewhere including classified. Fewer ads mean fewer pages, fewer pages means fewer stories and therefore a loss of interest from readers.
Why keep buying the newspaper when you can get up to the minute news online? Loss of interest in newspapers is less about FEWER or LESS interesting stories – but more about it’s redundancy. wrote a recent blog on this very thing…http://scorchmarketing.com.au/.....l-miss-you
If newspapers die where will the websites get their content from?
@ Ben S, that’s a good one, LOL