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Featherbrooksbank Abc Circulations

Feather Brooksbank reviews ABCs: hard copy news declining, online on the up

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

February 24, 2011 | 3 min read

Charlotte Bell, director at media buying and planning agency Feather Brooksbank, takes a look at the recent Audit Bureau of Circulation figures and finds mixed fortunes for regional media.

On the surface the latest ABC release for regional newspapers paints a less gloomy picture for the market than we are all led to believe. If we take the top 10 newspaper groups for example we see just a 1.3% decline in circulation period on period, with 5 of the 10 groups reporting increases. However, with over 800 titles making up these figures it’s difficult to build an accurate picture. For example, one of the biggest winners seems to be the Shropshire Star which posted a 54.8% period on period increase in circulation, but if we delve a bit deeper we see that the figures suddenly include a whole load of other Journals within the group.

It is perhaps more insightful to have a look at some of the best known evening titles in our regions. The data below compares their newspaper and online formats.

Source: ABC Multiplatform Six Monthly Report Jul-Dec 2010

The message here is pretty clear and consistent: circulation for the hard copy versions is declining while usage of the online versions is on the up. In some ways this is great news for regional media – online usage is growing faster than offline usage is declining, which means they are actually attracting a whole new audience with an appetite for local news and information. This corroborates research we did earlier this year showing the growing interest in all things local with 56% of the population saying keeping up with local news is important to them compared to 49% just two years ago (Source: CCS 2010). A word of warning though, overall, regional media groups have disinvested in quality journalism and in the highly competitive online world content is king.

As well as an opportunity, the decline in print and growth in online also poses a massive threat to the regional media groups. They need a whole new business model as they will not only lose revenue from copy sales but also from advertising, as online is generally cheaper than print. If they thought it was difficult to get their share of ad revenue offline, it will be even more challenging in the online environment.

Featherbrooksbank Abc Circulations

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