Survey finds print media readership on the increase

TOTAL newspaper and magazine readership in SA increased 6.5% in the year ended June compared with the previous corresponding period, according to the latest All Media and Products Survey (Amps) released recently by the South African Audience Research Foundation (Saarf).

The fastest-growing weekly magazines were Financial Mail (36.5%), Farmer’s Weekly (17.4%), Auto Trader (9.7%) and Huisgenoot (7.4%). The biggest-growing daily newspapers, with double-digit growth, were The New Age (64.4% to 143,000 readers), Isolezwe (21% to 943,000 readers), Pretoria News (17% to 172,000 readers), Beeld (16.4% to 496,000 readers) and The Herald (12% to 196,000 readers).

Die Burger (2.8%), Business Day (1.5%), Cape Argus (5.2%), Daily Voice (7.1%), Die Son (6.8%) and Sowetan (2.5%) experienced less than 10% growth, while The Witness was flat (0%). All other publications experienced declines in readership.

The survey shows that readers increased to 37.2-million, compared with 34.9-million in the previous year. Only Gauteng (16%), the Western Cape (22.8%), Mpumalanga (13.5%) and North West (8.4%) saw increases in their total audiences.

However, Saarf sent out a word of caution in interpreting its latest data. For the first time its figures were based on Statistics SA’s Census 2011 data, whereas previous Amps reports were based on population data from Census 2001.

While official census data is available only every 10 years, Saarf estimates population levels by using other sources of data such as births, deaths, emigration, immigration and AIDS infection rates.

Despite this attempt to moderate its findings, Saarf advised that media data from Amps June 2013 cannot be compared to previous surveys.

“Changes seen are not necessarily true increases or decreases, but rather a readjustment, giving the market a better estimate of reality based on the latest population information,” Saarf said.

The biggest-growing weekly newspapers included The Sunday Independent (35.8%), Weekend Witness (15.2%), Mail & Guardian (14.4%), Saturday Dispatch (12.4%), Ilanga langeSonto (10.5%) and Soccer Laduma (10.1%).

Despite this apparent growth in readership, the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ recently released circulation figures for the second quarter of this year which showed big declines in sales.

This showed that daily newspapers were 29% down from record peak circulation reached in 2007.

Weekend papers were 18% down from the 2007 peak. Total daily and weekly circulations were 23% down, while total community papers were 106% up over the same period.

The Media Shop MD Chris Botha said the overall picture was not good for print media. “Newspaper and magazine readership is increasing in certain pockets, but overall the trend remains negative,” he said.

“We, as advertisers, put far more weight behind actual copy sales, or circulation. Also, the definition of readership can be pretty loose, and is often abused by media owners,” Mr Botha said.

The MD of media agency PHD Network, Anne Dearnaley, said while readership was increasing in SA, the current economic climate and the entry of digital media was making it tough for publishers.