Newspaper circulation in the US is reported to be at its lowest since 1996, with daily circulation dropping by 1.9% in the six-month period ending March 31 and Sunday circulation losing 2.5% of sales over the last six months.
Looking at the latest data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), analyst eMarketer has concluded that these declines poise an ever increasing threat to the US newspaper industry, fuelled by the dramatic uptake of online news sources.
John Strum, executive director of the Newspaper Association of America explained: “Two years ago search engines were not viewed as much of a threat, but over the past year newspapers have recognised their effect.”
The rate of decline has been between 0.5% and 1% since newspaper circulation peaked in the mid-1990s, with this year’s drop alarming many in the industry.
John Morton, a newspaper industry analyst, said “I don’t see any bright spots and I don’t see any reasonable expectation this is going to change anytime soon.”
Changes in technology and market forces are shown as one of the reasons for newspapers drop in popularity, with a study by Merrill Brown for the Carnegie Corporation revealing that the US population is increasingly shifting to the internet as their primary source of news (see Internet Becoming Primary News Source In US).
The assessment looks at the 18-34 year old age range, with data suggesting that this segment of the population intends to continue to increase their use of the internet as a primary news source in the coming years and that it is embraced in meaningful ways.
Commenting on the report, Merrill Brown said: “The future course of the news, including the basic assumptions about how we consume news and information and make decisions in a democratic society, is being altered by technology savvy young people no longer wedded to traditional news outlets or even accessing news in traditional ways.”
UK circulation has similarly been in long-term decline, and these latest US ABC figures suggest that a more positive outlook for the UK newspaper industry could still be some way off.
However, a report published at the beginning of the year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) projects a more optimistic picture for the UK newspaper industry, arguing that growth prospects for newspaper publishers have been overlooked by industry forecasts (see Newspaper Industry Predicted To Strengthen).
PwC acknowledges growth potential for revenue and profit levels in the sector, pin-pointing the new young readership base born from the ‘rise’ of the free paper and increasing popularity of the compact as having positive consequences for the newspaper and advertising industry.
As media becomes more fragmented, PwC predicts the newspaper industry in the UK will provide a solid base as a medium able to deliver to a mass audience.
Related Links
