Manchester Evening News pulls out of ABC

MEN Media is pulling the Manchester Evening News from the Audit Bureau of Circulations system as it feels the audit does not clearly represent its distribution model.

It is understood that MEN – owned by Guardian Media Group – is in discussion with ABC about the development of a new measurement model to more accurately represent the paper’s part paid-for/part free model.

In April, the paper changed its distribution pattern, reducing the number of free copies it offers in the early part of the week.

Until an agreement is reached with ABC, MEN will issue an independently audited Publisher Statement showing its circulation figures.

According to its Publisher Statement for the April to June period, the Manchester Evening News had an average circulation of 88,555 Monday to Wednesday, 165,238 Thursday to Friday, with the Saturday edition grabbing 67,349.

The latest ABC figures available for the paper, covering July to December 2008, show that it had a circulation of 153,724.

At the end of July, Guardian Media Group revealed a pre-tax loss of £89.8 million for the year to the end of March.