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Regional non-daily ABC figures for last six months of 2018 in full
Print circulations fell across the board year-on-year for the UK and Ireland’s regional daily newspapers, according to new ABC figures.
Archant’s Ipswich Star fell hardest, with circulation down 37 per cent year-on-year to 5,423 over the six months from July to December last year.
This follows its decision to scrap a free Thursday edition of the paper, previously included in ABC figures, and launch new standalone title the Ipswich Extra in February 2018.
Ispwich Extra has a circulation of 14,140 for the period, according to ABC.
Brad Jones, editor of the Ipswich Star, said: “The -37 per cent year-on-year decline is not an accurate representation of Ipswich Star sales.
“Actively purchased copy sales of the Star are actually down -9.4 per cent, which is one of the smallest declines of the 50 titles reporting.”
Reach-owned daily the Cambridge News was down 34 per cent to 7,124.
The Irish News recorded the smallest circulation decline over the six-month period, down five per cent to 32,315.
Both the Yorkshire Post, owned by JPI Media, and the Manchester Evening News, owned by Reach, saw double-digit circulation decline.
Regional daily newspaper circulation July-December 2018 (ABC):
| Publication | Owner | Total circ. Jul-Dec 2018 | Year-on-year % change | Bulks | Free |
| Aberdeen – Press & Journal | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 43,746 | -9% | 355 | |
| Express & Star (West Midlands) | The Midland News Association | 38,690 | -19% | 6,535 | |
| Manchester Evening News | Reach plc | 35,417 | -10% | 7 | 16,347 |
| Belfast Telegraph | Independent News & Media (NI) | 33,951 | -7% | 2,009 | 7,008 |
| Dundee – The Courier | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 33,144 | -8% | 255 | |
| Irish News – Morning | Irish News Co | 32,315 | -5% | 178 | |
| Liverpool Echo | Reach plc | 32,257 | -16% | 64 | |
| Norwich – Eastern Daily Press | Archant Ltd | 25,631 | -12% | ||
| The Herald | Newsquest Media Group | 22,901 | -12% | ||
| The Sentinel | Reach plc | 20,682 | -11% | ||
| Hull Daily Mail | Reach plc | 20,212 | -14% | 42 | |
| Shropshire Star | The Midland News Association | 20,137 | -13% | 846 | |
| Aberdeen – Evening Express | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 19,732 | -13% | 47 | |
| Leeds – Yorkshire Post | JPIMedia Limited | 19,434 | -11% | 1,255 | |
| Newcastle Chronicle | Reach plc | 19,259 | -14% | ||
| Darlington – The Northern Echo | Newsquest Media Group | 19,142 | -11% | ||
| Glasgow – Evening Times | Newsquest Media Group | 18,204 | -13% | ||
| Daily Post (Wales) | Reach plc | 18,007 | -9% | ||
| Leicester Mercury | Reach plc | 17,015 | -25% | 322 | |
| The Scotsman | JPIMedia Limited | 16,349 | -17% | 3,116 | |
| South Wales Evening Post | Reach plc | 15,748 | -13% | 125 | |
| Southend – Basildon – Canvey – Echo | Newsquest Media Group | 15,299 | -10% | 86 | |
| Plymouth – Western Morning News | Reach plc | 15,295 | -13% | ||
| Teesside Gazette | Reach plc | 15,067 | -14% | ||
| Derby Telegraph | Reach plc | 15,029 | -17% | 694 | 18 |
| Birmingham Mail | Reach plc | 14,458 | -13% | ||
| Edinburgh – Evening News | JPIMedia Limited | 14,195 | -15% | 174 | |
| Portsmouth – News & Sports Mail | JPIMedia Limited | 13,902 | -15% | 34 | |
| Bristol – Western Daily Press | Reach plc | 13,425 | -7% | 3 | |
| Southampton – Southern Daily Echo | Newsquest Media Group | 12,954 | -11% | 23 | |
| Plymouth – The Herald | Reach plc | 12,795 | -13% | 77 | |
| Sheffield Star | JPIMedia Limited | 12,609 | -14% | ||
| Ipswich – East Anglian Daily Times | Archant Ltd | 12,589 | -11% | ||
| Grimsby Telegraph | Reach plc | 12,578 | -12% | 42 | 10 |
| News Letter | JPIMedia Limited | 12,499 | -9% | 123 | |
| The Post | Reach plc | 11,925 | -22% | 164 | |
| Nottingham Post | Reach plc | 11,777 | -28% | 37 | |
| Dundee Evening & Weekend Telegraph | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 11,742 | -12% | 43 | |
| Wales – The Western Mail | Reach plc | 11,719 | -13% | ||
| York – The Press | Newsquest Media Group | 11,705 | -11% | 616 | |
| Cardiff – South Wales Echo | Reach plc | 11,659 | -13% | ||
| Bournemouth – The Daily Echo | Newsquest Media Group | 11,293 | -8% | ||
| Bradford – Telegraph & Argus | Newsquest Media Group | 10,671 | -14% | 462 | |
| Coventry Telegraph | Reach plc | 10,606 | -14% | ||
| The Argus Brighton | Newsquest Media Group | 10,003 | -6% | 93 | 1,239 |
| Leeds – Yorkshire Evening Post | JPIMedia Limited | 9,734 | -15% | ||
| Sunderland Echo | JPIMedia Limited | 9,374 | -15% | ||
| The National | Newsquest Media Group | 9,101 | -7% | ||
| Newcastle Journal | Reach plc | 9,083 | -16% | ||
| Huddersfield Daily Examiner | Reach plc | 9,019 | -13% | ||
| Oxford Mail | Newsquest Media Group | 8,599 | -9% | 7 | |
| South Wales Argus | Newsquest Media Group | 8,563 | -13% | 56 | 339 |
| Dorset Echo | Newsquest Media Group | 8,352 | -11% | 3 | |
| Swindon Advertiser | Newsquest Media Group | 8,191 | -7% | 38 | 320 |
| Greenock Telegraph | Newsquest Media Group | 8,116 | -9% | ||
| Colchester – Daily Gazette | Newsquest Media Group | 7,943 | -10% | 36 | |
| Lancashire Post | JPIMedia Limited | 7,916 | -13% | ||
| The Bolton News | Newsquest Media Group | 7,873 | -10% | ||
| Cambridge News | Reach plc | 7,124 | -34% | 81 | |
| Lancashire Telegraph – Blackburn | Newsquest Media Group | 7,023 | -27% | ||
| The Gazette – Blackpool | JPIMedia Limited | 7,010 | -14% | ||
| Norwich – Evening News | Archant Ltd | 6,351 | -15% | ||
| The Leader | Newsquest Media Group | 6,271 | |||
| Worcester News | Newsquest Media Group | 5,925 | -10% | ||
| Burton Mail | Reach plc | 5,872 | -20% | 62 | 340 |
| Ipswich Star | Archant Ltd | 5,423 | -37% | ||
| The Mail | Newsquest Media Group | 5,151 | -15% | 291 | |
| Carlisle – News and Star East | Newsquest Media Group | 4,746 | -12% | 408 | |
| Paisley Daily Express | Reach plc | 4,262 | -6% | ||
| South Shields – Shields Gazette | JPIMedia Limited | 3,727 | -19% | ||
| Hartlepool Mail | JPIMedia Limited | 3,234 | -23% | ||
| Wigan Post | JPIMedia Limited | 2,937 | -13% | 1,223 | |
| Carlisle – News and Star West | Newsquest Media Group | 1,865 | -8% | 194 |
Assistant Programme Editor, Al Jazeera
Political Correspondent, New Statesman
Associate Editor, Wood Based Panels International
Publishing lists and columns of figures is a great way to reduce readership. To get rid of all your readers in a short time, fill your publication with meaningless figures, the more you publish, the less you will sell.
Looking at how far some of these once proud and essential titles have fallen in a few short years,reduced to selling a mere handful of copies, I really think many will soon crase to exist in newspaper form much sooner rather than later.
With copy sales in free fall and losing more readers by the week and with hardly any advertising carried,some must be under imminent threat of closure to limit any more damage and losses being accrued.
Doing nothing and carrying on regardless is no longer an option for boards who’ve sat back and allowed papers to wither away while putting all their hopes on riches from digital which so far has spectacularly failed to be achieved.
The future of regional community news is definitely on line but how the big groups monetise that sufficiently enough to justify their top heavy operations remains to be seen.