Northcliffe Media‘s Hull Daily Mail scored a hit by covering football transfer deadline day across a range of digital platforms.
The award-winning newspaper claimed an unprecedented level of participation across its various digital platforms as readers left 6,271 comments – one every five seconds – over the course of its day-long interactive discussions with readers on Tuesday.
The newspaper used the Cover It Live technology to keep readers updated throughout the day with rolling football news.
The paper claimed it received over 25,000 page views on ‘transfer related reports’ with more than 10,000 page views on its live and interactive services across thisishull.co.uk and dedicated sports site sporthull.co.uk on Tuesday.
Officially audited web traffic figures will not be made available by the Audit Bureau of Circulations until later in the year, however, according to the most recent figures from the ABC, thisishull.co.uk averaged 22,542 users each day during the first six months of this year.
John Meehan, editor of the Hull Daily Mail, said: “It was a superb demonstration of our ability to use digital media to interact with users on a running story through the day. We showcased how effectively we can differentiate our journalism.
“On the web we focused on breaking news and interaction; we used mobile to send out immediate news flashes to fans; and for the paper we produced a comprehensive, reflective and analytical package placing the events of the day and Hull City’s transfer activity in full context and perspective.”
The success of the interactive coverage contrasts sharply with falling sales of the printed product. During the first half of this year sales of the Hull Daily Mail were down 9.7 per cent year on year to 50,826.
Last month Northcliffe Media relaunched a number of its sports websites in north-east England, including that of the Hull Daily Mail, to coincide with the start of the football season.
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