The long-term trend away from metropolitan newspapers around the world continues to hit both Fairfaxand News Limited in the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations Publisher’s Statement figures, with The Australian’s weekday edition the only title recording a slight growth of just over 1%.
The biggest falls were reported in the Sydney market with News Limited’s The Daily Telegraph Monday to Friday falling 6.60% to 381,998, a noticeable drop from the 412,980 figure in the period ending March 2003.
The decline comes in the wake of a number of senior management changes within News Limited, including the promotion of political journalist David Penberthy to the editor’s chair, replacing its long-running boss Campbell Reid.
Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald Monday to Friday also suffered a fall of 4.79% to 210,288, a continued decline from the its circulation of 223,077 in the period ending March 2003, while on Saturday it fell 4.04% to 360,115.
The national papers also fell with the exception of The Australian Monday to Friday; however, its weekend edition decreased 2.11% to 293,209. Fairfax’s The Australian Financial Review weekday edition fell 3.08% to 84,762, while on Saturday it declined by a marginal 0.66% to 89,054.
In Melbourne, while News Limited’s Herald Sunremained steady, Fairfax’s The Age Monday to Friday fell 1.88% to 192,800 and on Saturday it was down 2.69% to 298,100.
Many News Limited metropolitan titles in the other states recorded slight decreases, with the weekday editions of Queensland’s The Courier Mail and Tasmania’s The Mercury falling around 2% each to 207,983 and 48,919 respectively.
The Federal Capital Press of Australia’s The Canberra Times Monday to Friday dropped 3.15% to 37,182, its Saturday edition declined 1.83% to 69,872, while its Sunday issue fell 2.43% to 37,836.
In other Sunday publications, News Limited’s Sunday Herald Sun in Melbourne remained strong with a 2% increase to 613,000, while The Sunday Telegraph remained steady at 730,182 in Sydney. Its other titles, The Sunday Mail, The Sunday Times and The Sunday Tasmanian also did well.
Fairfax’s The Sun Herald in Sydney, however, fell 2.31% to 518,045 and its The Sunday Age title in Melbourne experienced a slight fall.
