Circulation Has Limited Effect On Ad Revenue, Says CIA
CIA MediaLab has published comparisons between the circulations of national newspapers and the amount of adspend they command. The results showed that increases or decreases in circulation do not necessarily correspond with an increase or decrease in adspend, demonstrating that the ill-effects of a circulation drop may take some time to filter through to the ad sales department.
Financial title the Sunday Business is a good illustration of this. Having lost 4.1% of its circulation year on year in the July-December 2000 audit, it nonetheless saw a 56.5% year on year increase in ad revenue for the same period. Conversely the Daily Star, which managed a year on year circulation increase of 4.7%, saw ad revenue fall 6.7%.
Towards the upper and lower end of a ranking by circulation increase, a greater connection between circulation and revenue is seen, however, with the Scotsman managing a 32.6% increase in circulation and a 36.2% increase in ad revenue. This title was followed by the Financial Times, which saw a 13.2% year on year increase in circulation and a 39.2% increase in ad revenue. Meanwhile the Sunday People saw its circulation slip 5.2% and its ad revenue 29.1%.