NST’S CIRCULATION INCREASES

Sister papers ‘BH’, ‘BH Ahad’ also see increase

THE New Straits Times, New Sunday Times, BH and BH Ahad scored circulation growth in second half of 2016, according to data released by Audit Bureau Circulation.

NST sold 54,490 copies daily between July and December, an increase of 23.6 per cent or 10,400 copies compared within the first half of 2016.

The New Sunday Times sold 55,998 copies daily during the same period, an increase of 8.2 per cent or 4,230 copies.

Both newspapers, which saw a major revamp this year, also recorded an increase in their digital edition with an increase of 56.1 and 56.5 per cent respectively.

NST’s sister papers, BH and BH Ahad, also saw an increase in their circulation at 0.3 per cent and 1.1 per cent or 260 and 1,011 copies respectively during the same period, while Harian Metro dropped by five per cent.

This came amidst various improvements to the publication.

The daily digital paper’s subscription increased by 70 per cent while Harian Metro increased by 82 per cent.

The newspapers did well at a time when their competitors experienced a decline in circulation.

The New Straits Times Press’s competitors, The Star, Sunday Star, Utusan Malaysia, Mingguan Malaysia, Kosmo and Kosmo Ahad, saw a decline.

In the English newspaper segment, The Star was hit with a drop of 12 per cent or 27,587 copies in its circulation, while Sunday Star fell by 11 per cent or 24,816 copies.

Utusan Malaysia also fell by a great margin, losing 14 per cent or 20,863 copies while Mingguan Malaysia did not perform well with a drop of 10 per cent or 30,533 copies.

Kosmo fell by 10 per cent or 18,875 copies while Kosmo Ahad dipped by eight per cent or 15,519 copies.

The Edge and The Edge Financial, however, recorded an uplift of eight and 12 per cent or 482 and 38 copies respectively.

The second half of last year saw 2.8 million copies of newspapers in total circulation daily in the country.