The decline of Newspaper circulation

The last decade has changed how people consume and can access news, with a move away from print and towards digital, the rapid acceleration of mobile technology and social media platforms has contributed to the shift in behaviour.

As a result, news publishers are now forced to diversify to survive, as circulation income from newsstand sales and print advertising has considerably decreased.

Newspaper circulation in the UK has been declining for years, seeing a year-on-year drop in circulation of more than 10% between 2022 and 2023. For further comparison, expenditure on newspapers fell from over £9.9 billion in 2005 to below £2 billion in 2022.

Source: Press Gazette

Source: Press Gazette

Below are some current 2024 circulation figures:

Daily Mail – 706,839

Mail on Sunday – 594,414

Daily Mirror – 237,233

Sunday Mirror – 173,149

Daily Express – 147,919

Daily Star – 134,924

The following publications have chosen to withhold their circulation numbers, however, if these newspapers have fallen in line with the rest of the industry their current circulations as of February 2024 would be as follows:

The Sun – 700,000

The Sun on Sunday – 600,000

The Sunday Times – 322,000

The Times – 180,000

Daily Telegraph – 190,000

Sunday Telegraph – 125,000

The Observer – 80,000

The Guardian – 60,000

Local and regional newspapers have also seen a decline in circulation over the past decade, here are the latest circulation figures.

Western Mail – 7,177

North Wales Weekly News – 1,073

South Wales Evening Post – 8,608

Carmarthen Journal – 4,068

Birmingham Post – 1,152

Liverpool Echo – 18,496

Gloucester Echo – 4,139

Print advertising has been around for centuries and is still an effective medium today with many benefits, despite the steep decline in circulation.

  1. Tangible
  2. Credibility
  3. Targetable
  4. Brand awareness
  5. Capture attention
  6. Longevity
  7. Personalisation
  8. Engagement
  9. Nostalgia
  10. Multi-sensory experience

If you are interested in advertising in press or on news websites please contact us today!

[email protected]

How are people using media in 2018?

Attest’s media consumption report 2018 is a survey of 1,000 people taken in July 2018 to compile a report on the habits of UK consumers. What’s their verdict on some of the biggest platforms?

Television 

86.8% of Brits report watching more than one hour of television every day, a rise from 82% in 2017.

When it comes to streamed and on-demand television, use has risen dramatically since 2017.

Women tend to watch more streamed television than men, with 75.7% of female respondents tuning in for at least one hour per day, versus 64.1% of men.

Londoners are more likely to tune into Netflix, Amazon Prime or similar for 1-2 hours every day (47.7%)

The ITV Hub app ranked as the second most downloaded iPhone app of May 2018.

Music Streaming

The most popular paid-for music streaming service is Spotify (35.1%).

However, Apple Music (27%), Youtube (25.3%) and Amazon Music (19.7%) are close behind.

News Media

Younger generations seem to be more interested in newspapers than older generations, with 37.7% of those aged over 40 admitting they do not read a printed newspaper on a regular basis, compared to just 23.2% of under 40s.

Magazines

Digital Media

Digital advertising grew at its fastest rate for nine years in 2016. But how are consumers using social media?

Source: Attest Media Consumption

If you want to make sure you’re using your marketing budget to its full potential, then give our team a call on 02921 320 200 or email at [email protected]

July ABC’s – a steady month for newspapers

The July ABC’s show a steady month for newspapers. 

Daily market

Both the Daily Telegraph and The Times recorded circulation boosts between June and July, according to the latest ABC figures.

The Telegraph was up 1.1% selling an additional 3,900 copies. The Times (which includes bulks in its figures) was steady with 0.6% growth (an additional 2,600 copies).

Meanwhile, the Guardian dipped -0.2% and the ‘i’ was down -1.7%.

It was a steady picture in the mid-market where the Daily Express and the Daily Mail recorded slight gains of just 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

However, in the popular market every title recorded declines of between 1 and 2%.

Overall, the daily market was down just -0.5% period-on-period, and down -8.7% year-on-year.

Sunday market

The Sunday market performed rather well in July, with six of the 11 titles recording modest growth figures.

In the quality market, the Observer, Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph were all up. In the mid-market, both the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Express recorded period-on-period growth.

The declines in the rest of the market were slight – with the Sunday Mail in the popular market hardest hit at -1.6%.

Overall, the Sunday market was up 0.3% between June and July – but was down -11% year-on-year.

Source: https://mediatel.co.uk/newsline/2018/08/16/july-abcs-a-steady-month-for-newspapers/

If you want to make sure you’re using your marketing budget to its full potential, then give our team a call on 02921 320 200 or email at [email protected]

The Media Angel in National Finals of Prestigious Marketing Awards

For the second year running we are pleased to announce that we have been shortlisted for The Drum Marketing Awards. Our entry for “Public Sector Marketing Strategy of the Year “ was for The National Botanic Garden Of Wales’s Summer Campaign for 2017 which helped to dramatically increase their family footfall by 43%  to the Gardens .

The Drum Marketing awards celebrate the best marketers and campaigns nationally and internationally. Open to advertising agencies, in-house marketing teams, design consultancies, digital agencies, PR companies and integrated agencies we are pleased to represent Wales against some of the larger UK agencies.

The Drum Marketing Awards are considered to be one of the industry’s most sought after accolades and have many prestigious judges such as Michal Szaniecki, marketing Director, Volkswagen and…. Vanessa Fitzgerald Regional Director, Northern Europe, Facebook.

We created a multi faceted campaign which focused around the new British Bird of Prey Centre utilising Out of Home (OOH), On line, regional press and radio.  We are shortlisted along with some impressive national campaigns such as BBC Children in Need “Do Your Thing” and Kindered for HM Treasury and The Royal Mint.

Alison Debono, MD of The Media Angel said “We are beyond thrilled to be representing Wales as finalists at The Drum Awards 2018, especially as we are in the same category as such huge brands.”

The results will be revealed and the trophies handed out at the award ceremony on 30th May at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, London.

Advertising in newspapers could triple your ad campaign effectiveness

Advertisers who are cutting back on newspaper advertising might be missing a trick.

According to a new study conducted by effectiveness consultancy Benchmarketing for Newsworks, which claims that advertising with newspapers increases overall revenue return on investment by three times.

The study covers 500 econometric models to provide evidence of the impact newsbrands have on advertising campaigns. The results show that newspapers increase overall campaign effectiveness as well as boosting other media – newspapers make TV twice as effective and online display four times more effective. It goes on to claim that using digital newsbrands boosts print ROI by up to five times.

The research follows challenging times in the print market, which has seen print advertising revenues decline at a rapid rate this year as advertisers are investing more digitally.

The research hopes to prove the value of print advertising. It claims advertisers wanting to maximise effectiveness in their campaigns need to return to 2013 levels of expenditure, where investment in print was at 11.4%. That figure has since dropped to 7.6 % in 2015.

On a sector by sector basis, the research found that adding newspapers to a campaign increases effectiveness by 5.7 times for finance; 3 times for travel; 2.8 times for retail; 1.7 times for automotive; and 1.2 times for FMCG.

Claire Harrison-Church, VP marketing at Asda, said: “Newsbrands are a crucial part of Asda’s marketing mix because they provide us with an influential and flexible platform that we use to inform and inspire our customers. The ultimate goal of our comms is to deliver returns and this large-scale study allows us to continue to invest with confidence. Retailers know that adding newsbrands to a campaign increases the effectiveness of other media – here we have the evidence to prove it.”

If you are interested in incorporating press advertising into your media mix, call one of our team on 02921 320200 or email [email protected]

TV campaigns prove to provide the best ROI

A study conducted by the RAB presented the industry with momentous proof that TV and radio are by far the most effective mediums for advertising.

The study, named ‘The ROI Multiplier’ produced findings to show that for every pound spent on television advertising, brands were receiving returns of £8.70 on average. Radio followed closely behind, with reported revenue returns of £7.70. These figures out-performed all other advertising channels in terms of efficiency, and suggested that brands might want to re-allocate more of their ad budgets to TV and radio to capitalise on these considerable returns.

In order to effectively reach audiences on radio, a combination of creative content and optimal frequency are required. Whereas television viewing is sometimes referred to as appointment viewing with audiences intending to sit down and watch shows their entire way through; radio is not often the primary focus of attention. A creative message broadcast regularly and often over several bursts is more effective at feeding into audience listening patterns and influencing their decision making processes.

In contrast, outdoor and online advertising was presented as less likely to cut through the large volumes of advertising messages that audiences face every day. Press advertising performed better than expected, with an average of £5.80 being received in returns. This could be explained by the continuing loyal readership base of most press publications.

Get in touch with The Media Angel for more information on where best to invest your advertising budget. Send us an email or give us a call on 02921 320 200 and you could potentially unlock millions through incorporating television and radio into your marketing plans.

Newspapers circulation figures ae down, online counterparts on the up

Do you still read your daily or weekly newspaper? According to the latest ABC figures, average newspaper circulations figures have fallen again across the UK.

Alison Debono, Managing Director of The Media Angel commented: “These circulation figures come as no surprise, it’s sad news for press, but great to see growth in the digital sector.

Luckily there has been a massive growth in the number of users to the publisher’s online sites, such as Wales Online which has doubled its audience in the past year. Over 4,025,111 monthly unique visitors took to the site during January 2015.

“Press still has a place. It’s important for advertisers to remember that some of these tight-knit community newspapers and all-Wales titles are still reaching certain audiences that are perfect for certain campaign briefs.”

Caring Children’s Charity Chooses Caring Media Agency

The team at The Media Angel are delighted to kick-start 2015 with a new client; leading children’s hospice charity Tŷ Hafan – one of the UK’s top paediatric palliative care charities, based in Sully, South Wales.

One of the key objectives at The Media Angel is to work with organisations that make a real difference to people’s lives. Starting this month, The Media Angel is helping to promote the opportunity to bequeath Tŷ Hafan a legacy gift in your Will.

Since 1999, Tŷ Hafan has helped over 600 Welsh families with children to make the most of their precious time left together, and one in five of the children Tŷ Hafan support is cared for thanks to the gifts that have been left in Wills.

Alison Debono, Managing Director of The Media Angel said: 

“I feel really privileged to be working with such an amazing organisation such as Tŷ Hafan . The work they do is unbelievable and makes a huge difference to families who must be going through such a hard time.”

This marketing campaign consists of a mix of innovative video-on-demand advertising using ITV Player, targeting adults across Wales, and print adverts across highly circulated press and magazine titles to help share and raise awareness of the amazing work that Tŷ Hafan does.

Alison added:

“We wanted to make sure that the right media platforms were used for their precious budget, and we are confident the campaign will get to the right people across the right areas.”

Laura Barlow, Legacy and In Memory Fundraiser from Tŷ Hafan said:

“It’s been great working with Alison and her team at The Media Angel. Based on our brief they came up with innovative ideas and selected media options that we hadn’t before considered a possibility; particularly with some of the new digital on-demand services.

“The team has been so helpful; they are flexible, supportive and we are very much looking forward to a continued partnership and friendship in the future.”

To find out more about the legacy ‘Leave a Gift’ campaign, watch the video at: www.tyhafan.org/leaveagift.

Contact Tŷ Hafan for a free information pack via email: [email protected] or call: 029 2053 2265.

If you’d like help with any of your marketing campaigns then please get in contact with The Media Angel on 02921 320200, or email: [email protected]. We are here to help.

Award-winning month for Swansea University!

The Media Angel helps Swansea University achieves award-winning results with student recruitment campaign.

It’s been a fantastic month for our clients Swansea University who won University of the Year at the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2014; what an amazing achievement! 

On top of this, they have also been shortlisted for the Heist Awards for their Making Waves Student Recruitment Campaign, so fingers crossed for another win.

We have helped Swansea University with their media planning and buying on their ‘Making Waves’ campaign for the last 2 years, the campaigns include outdoor, online, radio, press and social media.

Of course we can’t forget to mention their victory at the Varsity 2014, beating Cardiff Uni 19-15. An amazing achievement for Swansea all around.

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