The Newspaper works an organisation that represents newspaper companies in Australia has put out a report partly in response to the recent ABC circulation report which did not look very good.
They point out that circulation figures are approximately the same as they were five years ago, they call it resilient. On the report check out page six and make your own mind up.
You can see too in this report what I consider the real problem with many newspapers now, the classified advertising revenue on page 30. If any of the major newspapers go soon, this will be the cause. It is an amplifying effect. The advertising drops, many who buy the newspaper for the classified advertisements stop buying it, the advertising and circulation revenue drops so the newspaper has to go up in price so public buy less. As less buy the newspaper, the advertising drops more and so on.
I think this tends to confirm what we have been saying for a long time. Newspapers are still a really good product. They bring plenty of people into the shop, the margins are reasonable, take up only a small space, etc. but newsagents need to change to accommodate the new market realities.
