Thanks to ABCWatcher for submitting this article – Ed
Sales of the Isle of Wight County Press paper in the first six months of 2011 have fallen by an average of more than 1,500 copies every week compared with the first half of 2010.
Between January and July this year the paper sold an average of 34,286, compared with 35,842 last year – 1,556 a week fewer or a 4.3 per cent fall. In the six months up to the end of 2010 sales were 35,384.
Down 7.4% in two years
In just two years, weekly circulation has dropped by 7.4%. The latest figures show the steepest decline (previous reported details).
The 29 April 2011 edition of the CP was excluded from the official figures. That sold 33,004 copies, probably because it was around bank holidays.
Over the latest period reported, the cover price of the CP has increased from 70p to 75p. Even at the current levels of sales, the CP generates over £25,000 a week just in paper sales, plus all of the advertising they carry.
| Weekly sales | Year on year change | |
| January to June 2009 | 37,026 | |
| July to December 2009 | 36,663 | |
| January to June 2010 | 35,842 | -1,184 |
| July to December 2010 | 35,384 | -1,279 |
| January to June 2011 | 34,286 | -1,556 |
Past decades of growth
For decades the County Press enjoyed regular growth reaching a peak of 44,000 in the early 2000s when it was a broadsheet.
Four years ago the paper’s new editor Alan Marriott said it was doing very well selling 40,000 copies a week and he “intends to ensure that trend continues”. Soon after, the paper became a tabloid.
Latest sales figures are published, Wednesday, August 31, by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and are included in the table above.
Online news: Added pressure
The recession, more news published for free and as-it-happens on the Web and the growth of interactive social networking sites such as VentnorBlog have all taken their toll on the traditional print media.
Country-wide many evening papers have become weeklies and many titles have closed.
Update 2.Sep 17:02: We contacted the editor of the CP for comment just-short of 24 hours ago, but he hasn’t responded.
CP Editor responds
The CP Editor, Alan Marriott, had been away, but sent us this on this return, which we’ve added in this update
As I think I have said before, it is a fact of life that newspaper sales have fallen worldwide in the past few years. There are very few papers of our size anywhere in the world (and we are the best selling single-edition weekly newspaper in the country), that have not seen a fall in circulation over that period.
There is only one reason, and that is the rise of the internet. We have responded to that with a web presence that is successful beyond our wildest dreams.
