Empowering the Ordinary:Death Of Newspapers Belied By Facts, Says WAN
According to new and revised data from the World Association of Newspapers, newspaper circulation is growing and new newspapers are being launched at a remarkable rate.
- Global newspaper circulation up 9.95 percent over five years and 2.36 percent over twelve months
- Daily newspaper titles surpass 10,000 for first time in history
- More than 450 million copies sold daily
- In excess of 1.4 billion paid-newspaper readers
- Total free daily circulation more than doubles in five years
Even in North America and Europe, both circulation and the number of new titles have increased, according to the updated data.
Timothy Balding, CEO of the Paris-based WAN, says "What we are seeing completely contradicts the conventional wisdom that newspapers are in terminal decline.... The fashion of predicting the death of newspapers should be exposed for... nothing more than a fashion, based on common assumptions that are belied by the facts."
The figures, according to the report, show:
- Combined paid-for and free newspaper circulation increased globally 9.95 percent over five years, and 2.36 percent over one year, in 2005, the most recent period for which full-year figures are available
- North America showed a five-year circulation increase of 0.70 percent and was virtually stable over one year
- Europe showed a 2.12 percent increase over five years and a one-year increase of 4.18 percent
- The total number of paid-for daily newspaper titles worldwide jumped over the 10,000 mark for the first time in history, to 10,104, a 13 percent growth from 2001, when there were 8,930 titles
- Free daily newspaper circulation more than doubled from 2001 to 2005, from 12 million copies in 2001 to 28 million in 2005, an increase of 137 percent
- In Europe, combined paid-for and free newspaper circulation increased 14.24 percent in the five years to 2005, and 3.31 percent over one year. The number of new titles grew 15.86 percent over five years, and were stable over one year
- In North America, newspaper circulation increased 0.7 percent over five years, and marginally declined 0.04 percent over one year. The number of titles declined 0.84 percent over five years but increased 1.21 percent over one year
Mr. Balding concludes that "These trends also indicate the widespread, but often overlooked, innovation that is occurring in the newspaper industry... Even in the most developed markets, there has been a proliferation of new genres of newspapers, targeting new audience segments and generating creative marketing and distribution scenarios..."
Balding noted that newspapers represent a nearly 180-billion-dollar industry worldwide, with more advertising revenues than radio, outdoor, cinema, magazines and the internet combined. More than 6 billion euros has been invested in newspaper technology in the past five years, and the industry employs nearly two million people world-wide.
The latest World Press Trends updates can be accessed at the bottom of the page accompanying this release.
Research Brief for Tuesday, February 13, 2007: http://www.centerformediaresearch.com/cfmr_brief.cfm?fnl=070213
(c) 2007 MediaPost Communications, 1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001
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