View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Publishers
  2. Digital Journalism
September 25, 2014

Referendum day saw Scotsman website attract 1m page views – beating previous record by 50 per cent

By William Turvill

The Scotsman website reported record web traffic and a print circulation rise of 25 per cent as a result of its referendum coverage last week.

Last Thursday, on the day of voting, the Johnston Press site reported 1m page views – beating its previous best day by 50 per cent.

And its circulation saw week on week increases of 13 per cent on Thursday, 21 per cent on Friday and 25 per cent on Saturday, according to JP.

The Edinburgh Evening News, also a Johnston Press title, reportedly saw its circulation increase by 5 per cent week on week on Thursday and 21 per cent on Friday.

Total unique browsers for both titles' websites have topped 3m for the month of September, the publisher said, equating to 56 per cent of the country’s population.

JP said the Scotsman’s referendum microsite, an aggregator of independence content from the internet, got 60,000 unique browsers on the day of the vote – four times higher than its previous record.

Its live blog, meanwhile, reached 85,000 people, one of the Scotsman’s weekly Google Hangouts received 10,000 views and the Edinburgh Evening News’s digital front page was reached by 381,300 people on Facebook.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Lucy Sinclair, chief marketing officer of Johnston Press, said: “We are immensely proud of these latest figures and the dramatic expansion of our reach as a result of our dedicated editorial coverage of one of the biggest decisions this country has seen in recent years.

“Our teams ensured our Scottish referendum coverage was provided to our audiences in a plethora of different formats, from live updates, to a deeper post-decision analysis, and the results have been staggering. It’s clear that there is a strong appetite for receiving good quality reporting on local issues on the ground, and we are committed to ensuring we can provide this for all local communities in the UK across our titles.”

Yesterday, the Sunday Herald – the only Scottish title to declare support for independence – reported a 111 per cent year on year increase in circulation. The Sunday Herald quoted internal figures showing a sale of 49,291 last week. The paper said on Twitter: “We are speechless and very grateful.”

Topics in this article : ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network