Lowdown on industry's highs and lows now in a database

Dec 14, 2016 at 07:23 pm by Staff


This is the chart that chills Australia's newspaper industry and provides a glow of satisfaction for publishers in India.

Australia/Oceania daily print circulation down almost 30 per cent in five years, while that in Asia has risen almost 40 per cent. Locals know the reasons, and the hows and whys of a comparison with North America (down more than ten per cent), which started its decline earlier.

The figures come from WAN-Ifra's World Press Trends Report 2016, which has just been published despite highlights having been presented at conferences during the year. New this year is a snapshot of individual country reports, and the challenges and opportunities facing markets including the US, India and Japan, and these complement a searchable database.

The report says more people are reading news media content than ever before, yet that measurement of success is being put to the test daily as publishers increasingly focus on delivering trust, value and true engagement - "three ingredients needed to sustain their business in the face of fierce competition".

Says chief executive Vincent Peyrègne, "If you just look at recent events, we are all reminded that trust in news media is and will be a universal, global issue.

"There are common issues and common challenges, but also common opportunities, that we all share. And despite the fact that every market and region has its own, distinct dynamics and issues, there is not one media company from any corner of the world which cannot learn from another publisher today."

Among findings in this year's report:

-2.7 billion adults are reading newspapers in print globally;

-analysis estimates that at least 40 per cent of global internet users read newspapers and news media online;

-audiences, not advertising, continue to contribute the majority of revenues for news media companies;

-finding and diversifying revenue streams remains a top priority to offset declines in traditional revenues;

-measuring media consumption and engagement across platforms remains a big challenge.

Circulation vs. advertising revenue- In line with a trend identified last year, audiences are continuing to contribute the majority of revenues for news media companies. In 2015, global newspapers and news media generated an estimated US$168 billion in circulation and advertising revenue. $89 billion came from print and digital circulation, while $79 billion came from advertising. While print advertising revenue's share decreases, content is increasingly becoming the key source of revenue for many publishers. The traditional dual revenue model is evolving into something more complex, and diversification strategies such as events, news brands' e-commerce and full service marketing agency initiatives have entered the picture.

Print vs. digital revenue- Digital advertising revenue continues to grow significantly worldwide (7.3 per cent in 2015 and 51 per cent over five years), even though it still represents a relatively small part (six per cent) of overall newspaper revenue. Meanwhile revenue from digital circulation continues to grow at a double-digit rate, having increased 31 per cent in 2015. The growth in newspapers' digital revenues is still far from challenging print as their main source of revenue: more than 92 per cent of all newspaper revenue comes from print.

Global circulation and reach- Print circulations continue to decline in the west, but globally circulation levels grew by more than five per cent in 2015 and more than 21 per cent over five years. The increase is largely the result of strong print markets in India and elsewhere in Asia. WAN-Ifra estimates that about 2.7 billion people around the world read newspapers in print. Meanwhile, more than 1.3 billion, or about 40 per cent of global internet users, read newspapers online.

Circulation: regional trends- As the chart shows, different regions are seeing very diverse circulation trends: Asia continues to enjoy growth in sales, while other continents had varying rates of declining circulations.

The report and access to the World Trends Database is free to members; details on purchasing the report and accessing to the database for non-members are here.

Sections: Newsmedia industry

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