ABC Regional Newspapers: January – June 2012
Three regional newspaper groups in our analysis enjoyed increases in the January to June 2012 period – Newsquest (Midlands South), Advertiser (North of England) and the Bristol Observer Group.
Today’s ABC release also shows that four of the top regional newspaper titles recorded circulation increases in the six month period – Champion (up 10.8%), Wirral Globe (1.7%), Portsmouth Journal (0.3%) and MK News (3.9%).
However, the figures paint a fairly poor picture for some regional newspaper groups and titles. The Sheffield Weekly Gazette saw its circulation fall by over 18,000 copies on the second half of 2011, while four of the top groups – MEN Weekly Free Newspapers Group, Midland News Association Group, Chronicle Newspaper Group and KM Extra Group (Kent) – saw their total average net circulation fall by more than 24,000 each.
Regional Newspaper Groups
| Title | Jul 11 – Dec 11 | Jan 12 – Jun 12 | Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,599,783 | 2,486,442 | -113,341 | -3.5 |
| MEN Weekly Free Newspapers Group | 445,337 | 420,288 | -25,049 | -5.6 |
| Midland News Association Group | 448,455 | 418,771 | -29,684 | -6.6 |
| Chronicle Newspapers Group | 361,105 | 336,917 | -24,188 | -6.7 |
| Newsquest (Midlands South) Ltd Group | 290,137 | 290,452 | 315 | 0.1 |
| Echo Newspapers Free Newspaper Group | 205,171 | 197,308 | -7,863 | -3.8 |
| KM Extra Group (Kent) | 216,096 | 191,561 | -24,535 | -11.4 |
| Berkshire Media Group | 186,327 | 184,030 | -2,297 | -1.2 |
| Advertiser (North of England) Group | 148,670 | 150,700 | 2,030 | 1.4 |
| Bristol Observer Group | 145,105 | 149,643 | 4,538 | 3.1 |
| Standard Recorder Group | 153,380 | 146,772 | -6,608 | -4.3 |
Regional Newspaper Titles
| Title | Jul 11 – Dec 11 | Jan 12 – Jun 12 | Actual Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,122,886 | 1,111,008 | -11,878 | -1.6 |
| Nottingham & Long Eaton Topper | 212,324 | 211,732 | -592 | -0.3 |
| Champion | 139,851 | 154,919 | 15,068 | 10.8 |
| Wirral Globe | 110,140 | 111,973 | 1,833 | 1.7 |
| Express & Star (West Midlands) | 104,262 | 100,244 | -4,018 | -3.9 |
| Milton Keynes Citizen | 102,203 | 99,284 | -2,919 | -2.9 |
| Portsmouth Journal | 98,229 | 98,506 | 277 | 0.3 |
| MK News | 85,836 | 89,143 | 3,307 | 3.9 |
| Sheffield Weekly Gazette | 104,073 | 85,461 | -18,612 | -17.9 |
| Liverpool Echo | 81,506 | 80,762 | -744 | -0.9 |
| Manchester Evening News | 84,462 | 78,984 | -5,478 | -6.5 |
