Regional Newspapers Move To Abolish Bulk Sales
More than three quarters of regional newspapers have halted the practise of bulk sales, which many media buyers believe artificially inflates circulation figures.
The Newspaper Society claims that 75.3% of regional papers reporting in the latest ABC circulation period have scrapped bulk-sales altogether.
The move follows the latest ABC circulation figures for the January to June 2003 period, which brought mixed results to the regional press (see ABC Regional Newspapers: Jan-Jun 2003). More than half of all weekly titles increased sales year on year, but the dailies fared less well,with the Iraq war and a continued policy of removing bulk sales contributing to some notable declines.
Les Middleton, associate director at MediaCom, said: “This reduction in bulk sales in long-awaited and clears the murky waters which existed previously. From a buyer’s point of view it is extremely important for the major regional dailies, particularly the business orientated ones, where copies were distributed at airports.”
He added: “In a year I suggest that bulks will have virtually disappeared from the circulation figures and we’ll just have paid-for copies, which is what media buyers want.”
Conor MacLoughlin, regional media manager at Carat, also welcomed the development, commenting: “The continued stripping out of bulk sales within the regional press is an initiative we strongly endorse. High actively purchased sales mean that we are able to deliver greater transparency and accountability to our clients.”
Recent research from the Target Group Index and the Newspaper Society revealed that regional newspapers are becoming increasingly popular and are now read by almost 85% of the UK’s population (see Study Shows Increasing Popularity Of Regional Newspapers).
Newspaper Society: 020 7636 7014 www.newspaperassoc.org.uk
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