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Newspaper marketing body: Australian papers are ‘perfectly positioned’ for the future

Facts_about_Australian_newspapersThe marketing body for the Australian newspaper industry has today published a report on the state of the medium claiming that advertising has experienced double digit growth, sales have held up and that papers are “perfectly positioned” for the future.

The upbeat report from publisher-funded The Newspaper Works comes shortly after questions were raised about the circulation picture of The Age in Melbourne and also of the Sydney Morning Herald. Yesterday, OMD’s head of print Simon Davies warned that agencies were losing confidence in what the audited paid numbers for newspapers actually meant.  

But today, Newspaper Works released its The Facts About Australian Newspapers Report.

Newspaper Works CEO Tony Hale, said: “This report highlights the relative strength of newspapers and how newspapers have rebounded well following the GFC. New distribution of newspaper content is reaching more audiences than ever before, while the different newspaper platforms, print and digital offer complementary reader experiences. What’s more, newspapers are the least impacted by fragmenting audiences.

“In just five months, for example, more than 330,000 newspaper brand apps have been downloaded, which shows that people still value newspapers however they are delivered.”

According to the report, “CEASA figures showed that newspapers reported double digit growth of 11.3% in national advertising in January to June 2010 vs January to June2009. National advertising is now significantly higher than pre-GFC levels.”

It also highlights: “Audit Bureau of Circulations figures show that sales of newspapers in Australia have eased by less than 1% per year over the last 10 years, compared with double digit declines in the major English-speaking markets overseas.”

Hale said: “These are powerful facts and show that the debate on the ‘demise of newspapers’ has been turned on its head. It’s now no longer about whether newspapers survive but how perfectly positioned newspapers are to grab a significant slice of an exciting future.”

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