Take a look at the Financial review figures from the current ABC figures for newspapers.
{chart removed]
On this list, Fairfax did the worst despite their giveaway deals which I discussed here.
Despite our growing population, we saw a 2% drop. What is also disturbing is a recent study of newsagents showed a drop of 4% in newspapers. Part of this is probably deliberate as many newsagents are changing their emphasis to other products, many did not even bother to renew their News Corp contracts. Another part could be the decline in tobacco, cigarette sales and newspapers are often linked. I think we are seeing all of that and more here.
Still, from a newsagent view, a newspaper is a very good product. They take up little room, margins are reasonable, and they bring many to the shop.
