Mixed Fortune For Metropolitan Papers
The Age
Friday February 9, 1996
Australia's economic downturn in the second half of 1995 resulted in static sales of metropolitan daily and Sunday newspapers, according to preliminary audit figures released yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
With the change of the bureau's audit periods to the calender year from 1 January last year, a true comparison of the bureau's circulation figures is not possible.
Traditionally, the audit periods were for the six-month terms to 30 March and to 30 September, which made a clear distinction between the football-enhanced winter newspaper sales and the summer sales lull.
The bureau's figures for July to December 1995 confirm the long-term trend of declining newspaper sales.
With the exception of the two national papers, which were coming off a low base, sales of all metropolitan newspaper titles have eased.
Sales of John Fairfax's financial daily newspaper The Australian Financial Review rose 826 copies a week to more than 82,000 (81,186 previously) and News Ltd's The Australian added sales of 500 copies Monday to Friday, from 122,000 to 122,500. Sales of the Saturday edition of The Australian rose by 1000 copies from 310,000 to 311,000 during the six months.
In Victoria, Monday-Friday circulation of The Age fell by 10,229 copies in the six-month period from 203,261 to 193, 032.
The Herald Sun's Monday-Friday sales dropped by 13,605 copies during the same period - from 570,849 to 557,244. Sales of the Saturday edition of both papers fell by about 11,000 copies.
Sunday Herald Sun circulation dropped from 501,080 to 495, 963, while sales of The Sunday Age fell to 185,135 from 189, 850.
© 1996 The Age