Hot Topic - Newspaper circulation

Government Entities Want To Switch From High Cost Legal Notice Advertising In Paid-For Newspapers And Transfer That Spend To Free Newspapers And The Web For Much Lower Cost - May 1, 2008
General circulation newspapers have depended on legally mandated government advertising as a large revenue flow based on laws in many cases going back more than 100 years, but those newspapers are beginning to experience another Craigslist-type horror – laws are being changed to now include free papers and the Web into the mix and that means much more low-priced competition.

If Print’s Goal Is To Maintain Readership, Then The Manchester, UK, Experiment Seems To Have Worked, But They’re Giving Away Twice The Number Of Papers They Had Planned On - March 4, 2008
Over the past couple of years ftm has kept a close watch on two regional UK newspapers that took different approaches to stem drastically falling circulation – the Manchester Evening News that embarked on new marketing ground by giving away 50,000 issues downtown while maintaining sales in the suburbs, and the Birmingham Mail that went through a complete relaunch concentrating on local news, and enough time has now passed to see what worked and what didn’t.

Could It Be That Free Is Just Fine Until There Is A Big Breaking Story And Then We’ll Cough Up The Money To Buy The Better Journalism In A Paid-For Newspaper? - January 16, 2008
The UK is one of the world’s leading competitive newspaper markets with Londoners choosing between nine titles every weekday and 10 on Sunday, and the reputation of the so-called “red top” tabloids with the sex exposés, nude women and the like is known around the world.

With So Many Tons Of Free Newspapers Tossed After The Quick Read Are Advertisers Getting True Value? - December 11, 2007
Transit authorities in many big cities have long complained about the trash left behind from free newspapers being tossed after the quick read, but the figure by London transit authorities that they are clearing some 9 1/2 tons of free newspapers out of the Underground (subway) each day on just three of its 12 routes gives a startling view to how serious the problem is, and it surely must have advertisers wondering the reader value of their messages.

To UK National Publishers It Seems To Be A No-Brainer – Circulation Is Down So It’s Time To Raise the Newsstand Price - September 13, 2007
The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph all have one thing in common – their August circulation numbers were down so in September those UK national newspapers raised newsstand prices. No doubt the accountants have done the math and figured the additional revenue per copy will be more than forecast losses from lower circulation.

Newspaper Circulation Races Ahead In The Developing World, But In North America It Is Down And Europe Is Static – Perhaps Because Free Newspapers Now Account For 31.94% of Europe’s Newspaper Circulation - June 5, 2007
The rise and fall of newspaper circulation is really the story of newspapers in the developing world, particularly India, China, and South America, charging forward whereas in North America it is the reverse – circulation is dropping, and in Europe free newspapers now have nearly one-third of total circulation.

Free Newspapers - ftm Knowledge file

The free newspaper phenomenon is rocking media landscapes across the world. This ftm Knowledge file looks at publishers and their battles in the UK, Europe and the US. Includes data on the successes and weaknesses. 65 pages PDF (August 2007)

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The State of the Print Media in the World

ftm reports on the World Association of Newspapers Congresses. Includes WAN readership studies, African media and journalism, Russian media and Russian politics, press freedom. 82 pages. PDF file (August 2007)

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The Suffering of the French National Newspapers

How The French Newspaper Scene Has Changed Dramatically In Just Two Years.

ftm analyzes the newspapers and publishers of France; 40 pages, PDF file (July 2006)
Free to ftm members and others from €39

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