Readership And Circulation Cements National Reach

Friday 15 August, 2008
MEDIA STATEMENT

Fairfax Media Readership And Circulation Cements National Reach

Fairfax Media continues to grow its national connection.

The latest Nielsen National Readership and Audit Bureau Circulation results for the period ended June 2008, show that Fairfax Media’s suite of newspapers and magazines are now read by 2,774,000 (84.2%) New Zealanders aged 15+ and record a total audited circulation of over 1 million copies across New Zealand.

“Our unique combination of media innovation and the ability to give news and entertainment real context, allows us to engage with New Zealanders the length and breadth of the country. Our newspapers and magazines give readers that in-depth, behind the scenes insight that puts headlines and information into perspective,” says Fairfax Media’s Group Head of Publishing, Rodger Shepherd.

Newspapers
Fairfax Media’s Sunday combo, the Sunday Star-Times and the Sunday News continues its national stronghold, reaching nearly 80% of those that read a Sunday newspaper each week and recording a combined national circulation of 263,191.

The Sunday Star-Times saw a 12,000 jump nationally year on year to 578,000 readers aged 10 years+. In the Auckland market the Sunday Star-Times increased readership by 6,000 readers and the Sunday News by 13,000 readers.

The Sunday Star-Times’ vibrant and sophisticated lifestyle glossy ‘Sunday’, is read by 549,000 people 10+, and is the only newspaper insert magazine to achieve growth as strong as 8,000 readers period on period, placing it as the fourth largest weekly magazine in New Zealand.

Fairfax Media’s Auckland Suburbans also continue to cement their dominance in the Auckland market with a total readership of 678,000 in the 15+ age bracket, representing a 6.3% increase year on year.

“More Aucklanders read a Fairfax Media Suburban title than any other Auckland publication, with the Suburban group reaching 76.5% of Aucklanders aged15 years+ across a week,” says Fairfax Media’s General Manager Suburbans, David Penny.

“Fairfax Media maintains our commitment to household deliveries throughout Auckland, enabling a localised connection relevant to each community.”

The top performers include the North Shore Times (up 18,000 readers), Manukau Courier (up 14,000 readers), North Harbour News (up 12,000 readers), the Eastern Courier (up 11,000 readers) and the East & Bays Courier (up 7,000 readers).

Across the country, Fairfax Media’s metropolitan dailies delivered a consistent performance, reaching a combined 559,000 readers aged 15 years+ and recording a total circulation of 223,028.

The Press acquired 2,000 new readers year on year, posting a result of 223,000 people 15years+. The Dominion Post, which has set the news agenda in New Zealand this year with a series of exclusive stories, including revelations about broadcaster Tony Veitch and NZ First leader Winston Peters, achieved a stable result at 243,000 readers.

The Waikato Times saw its strongest result in three years, with an increase of 3.2% to 98,000 readers, driven by increased readership of its Saturday edition.

Group Sales & Marketing Manager, Sandra King says “Fairfax Media continues to satisfy the growing demand from our readers and advertisers for more weekend diversity by introducing a new weekend magazine into approximately 240,000 Saturday editions of the Fairfax Metropolitian Dailies.”

“Launching on September 13, the new magazine will provide readers with topical feature stories as well as a mix of the essentials including food, wine, fashion, beauty, home design and gardening. This new magazine will have a guaranteed readership of 350,000+ readers 10 years+,” says King.

Demonstrating the ability of Fairfax’s regional papers to remain relevant to local communities a strong performance was posted by the Southland Times, up 5.1% to 62,000 readers and followed by Taranaki Daily News up 3.7% to 56,000 readers.

The newly re-vamped The Independent business newspaper achieved a readership of 33,000 readers 10 years+, up 6.5% period on period.

“We’ve developed The Independent to meet the changing needs of the business world to deliver leading business content in a fresh, modern format”, says King.

Magazines
Over 2 million people aged 10 years+ continue to indulge with a title from Fairfax Media’s magazine stable.

“Robust readership figures, high subscription levels and an extremely loyal reader base puts Fairfax Magazines in the best position to ride current economic conditions,” says King.

Cuisine holds its position as the nation’s leading food title, posting a consistently strong readership result of 369,000, with an equally stable circulation of 63,540.

NZ House & Garden continues to outperform its competitors in the home category, connecting with 620,000 New Zealanders 10years+. When combined with Cuisine and NZ Life & Leisure, these magazines reach 848,000 readers with a significant skew to high income households.

New Zealand’s biggest selling weekly magazine, The TV Guide recorded stable readership of 750,000 and a circulation figure of 180,636, a solid result compared to its competitors.

NZ Gardener under the editorship of Lynda Hallinan has demonstrated an exceptional performance, growing readership by 18.8% to 234,000 readers 10 years+ and circulation by 6.9% to 37,782.

“Strong readership and circulation of NZ Gardener is reflective of the magazines ability to tap into the growing trend of sustainability and self-sufficiency, and Lynda’s award winning ability to inspire gardeners of all ages and competencies. This growth tells us we’re delivering the best information on the topics our readers want to read about,” says King.

Newly acquired magazines Avenues and NZ Life & Leisure have flourished under Fairfax management, with Avenues achieving one of the highest year on year readership gains of 46.2% to 57,000 readers 10 years+ and NZ Life & Leisure increasing circulation since the prior audit release to 22,489.

Fairfax Media’s Group Circulation Manager Clare O’Higgins adds that: “Compared to international trends, circulation figures across Fairfax Media’s newspapers and magazines remain strong”.

“Part of the reason for this is the work we put into ensuring content reflects what our readers are looking for, whether its local, national or international content.”

Online
Fairfax Media’s award winning news website, Stuff.co.nz, has experienced excellent growth in domestic traffic. When comparing July 08 to July 07, domestic unique browsers have increased by 41% to 1,161,963.

As a publisher Fairfax Media has experienced bigger growth in domestic unique browsers (+46% to 1,235,428) and domestic page impressions (+75% to 43,123,915) than any other major publisher of New Zealand digital content.

Following this lead, Fairfax Media shows that it means business, with its continued reach amongst the New Zealand business community.

Since the June launch of businessday.co.nz, New Zealand’s national online news site devoted exclusively to business and economic news, it has seen a strong surge in new domestic unique browsers, with 156% growth.

“The excellent growth in users of businessday.co.nz shows that the business community has really taken to the one-stop shop business news service”, says King

Sources:
Nielsen National Readership Survey Q3 07-Q2 08
Nielsen National Readership Survey Q3 06-Q3 07 (Previous Year)
Nielsen National Readership Survey Q207-Q108 (Previous Release)
Nielsen Regional Readership Survey 1YR ending Q2 2008
ABC 6 Months to June 2008
Nielsen//Netratings Market Intelligence June-July 2008 domestic unique browsers
Nielsen//Netratings Market Intelligence July 08 vs July 07 domestic unique browsers

ENDS

© Scoop Media