Sales continue to fall for Irish newspapers
Latest ABC figures show the circulation all newspapers in both the daily and Sunday markets have declined
Print24 August 2015
The latest Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures show sales of all Irish newspapers have further declined, with some titles dropping more than 10% in just 12 months.
On the plus side however, the latest ABC figures show that the rate of decline in the Irish daily newspaper has actually slowed.
The daily newspaper market’s sales fell by 5.4% during the first six months of 2015, compared to the same period in 2014. Yet the decline in the daily market compared with the second half of 2014 was just 1.8%, while Sunday sales fell 4.5% over this time. The overall Sunday newspaper market dropped by 7.8% year-on-year.
The Irish Times has pointed out meanwhile that although its print circulation fell by 5.2% year-on-year to 76,194 copies, daily sales of the paper’s Digital Edition have boosted its results. The Digital edition had daily sales of 4,853 in the first half of 2015 – an increase of 67% year-on-year, taking the combined sale for the print and digital editions to 81,047.
Commenting on the latest ABC results, as reported by TheJournal.ie, the CSNA’s Vincent Jennings said: “I think that it’s important to note the fact that each day, over 450,000 people actually buy a daily paper and that each Sunday more than 650,000 consumers make a conscious decision to buy a paper.
“These purchases pay journalists, printers and drivers as well as a substantial number of admin staff.
The VAT (unlike the UK, Ireland actually applies VAT on newspapers and magazines) PAYE and PRSI collected as a result of these sales make a significant contribution to the Exchequer. I can’t imagine that any of the publishers could manage to maintain a digital presence if print was gone.
“No one forces any of the 15 daily and 16 Sunday titles onto anyone yet there is still a very large section of the Irish public that enjoy the choice that the market provides.”
The circulation for the daily newspapers currently stands as follows: the Irish Independent (109,524 copies); Irish Times (76,194); Irish Sun (57,702); Irish Daily Star (57,658); Irish Daily Mail (49,872); The Herald (48,133); Irish Daily Mirror (43,250) and the Irish Examiner with a circulation of 33,198 copies.
Looking at the Sunday papers, the Sunday Independent now has a circulation of 213,549 copies; Sunday World (178,867); Irish Mail on Sunday (90,399); Sunday Times (82,748); Irish Sun on Sunday (53,047); Sunday Business Post (32,948) and the Irish Sunday Mirror with a circulation of 30,586 copies.
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