ABC Regional Newspapers: January – June 2014

The latest ABC regional newspaper results, covering the January – June 2014 period, reveal a relatively stable picture for the top performing groups and titles, with a few notable exceptions.

In the top ten regional newspaper groups by circulation, the National saw the greatest increase, up 10.5% to an average circulation of almost 1.6 million, placing it head-and-shoulders above any other group. Year-on-year, the group was up more than 18%.

Meanwhile, in second place, the Midland News Association Group was down -11.4% to more than 333,000 and in third place the Chronicle Newspaper Group was down -1.2% to just almost 293,000.

The second-best performance throughout the period belonged to North Herts Comet Series, up 4.7% to 69,000 – yet the group saw no year on year growth and remained static at 0%.

In the top ten regional newspaper titles by circulation, the stand-out winner, in terms of period-on-period growth, was Wirral News, up 111%. The publication leapt from 28,000 to more than 59,000 and witnessed growth of 107% year-on-year.

However, despite a period-on-period drop of -0.2%, the Milton Keynes Citizen claimed the number one spot.

The title had a circulation of almost 95,000 and remained almost entirely static over the year.

In second place was East End Life, down just -0.5% for the period with a steady circulation of almost 83,000 and down only -0.96% over the year.

Claiming third place was the Luton & Dunstable Herald and Post, down only -0.3% to a little over 74,000.

Most titles in the top ten, with the exception of the Rotherham Record (+0.4%) and Wirral News (+111%), saw slight declines.

Only the Coventry Observer dropped by a notable degree. The title was down -10.3% to a circulation of 51,000 and dropped almost 13%, year on year.