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Figures released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show sales of Monday to Sunday metropolitan newspapers were virtually steady - with a decrease of only 1.1 per cent - in the three months ending September 30, 2009, compared with the previous corresponding period.

The results show that Australians are buying more than 20 million newspapers every week.

Sales of national, metropolitan and regional Monday to Saturday Australian newspapers were slightly down – by 1.3 per cent.

The figures are in sharp contrast to the latest circulation data from the US and UK.

In the US market, weekday newspaper sales in the six months from April to September 2009 dropped by 10.6 per cent, while Sunday newspapers fell by 7.5 per cent.*

The circulation trend in the UK is also continuing downwards, with national daily newspaper sales in September this year falling by 3.9 per cent year on year, and Sundays down by 6.3 per cent.**

“Just as the Australian economy has proven more resilient than the rest of the world, so too have our newspapers,” The Newspaper Works CEO Tony Hale, said.

Hale said there were also significant differences between the Australian newspaper industry and overseas markets.

“Newspapers in Australia continue to set the news agenda on a daily basis and Australians turn to newspapers as the most reliable news medium,” Hale said.

Hale pointed to steady sales of Monday to Friday and Monday to Saturday metropolitan newspapers in Australia -  where declines in the latest period were less than one per cent - as proof that the newspaper market remains robust.

“Given that the September quarter last year included the Beijing Olympics, the latest results are also possibly better than the figures actually indicate,” Hale said.

In the metropolitan Sunday newspapers segment, circulation was down 2.5 per cent.

“Sunday continues to be the biggest day for newspaper sales with Australians buying 3.2 million papers every week, reaching an audience well in excess of any other medium,” Hale said.

“The latest circulation results again show that Australians hold their newspapers in high regard, and for advertisers the story is as resonant as ever – newspapers are a very powerful advertising vehicle for reaching the mass audience,” Hale said.

Sources:

* Audit Bureau of Circulations (US), circulation of newspapers for the six months to September 30, 2009
** Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK), circulation of newspapers for September 2009

Appendix one - Weekly sales volumes by newspaper type
Appendix two - Average net paid sales by masthead

For more information, please contact:

Tony Hale    
The Newspaper Works
T: (02) 9692 6310
E: tonyhale@thenewspaperworks.com.au

Rochelle Burbury
Access Public Relations
T: (02) 9279 4799
M: 0408 774 577
E: rochelle@accesspr.com.au

About The Newspaper Works

The Newspaper Works is a not-for-profit body established to promote the newspaper industry in Australia. The Newspaper Works was founded in 2006 by Fairfax Media/Rural Press, News Ltd, APN News & Media and West Australian Newspapers to pursue a number of industry objectives including to promote newspapers as a powerful and influential medium for advertisers, to promote the purchase of newspapers as an essential source of news and to modernise the perceptions of newspapers and the newspaper industry. The Newspaper Works also provides research, marketing tools and other support necessary to promote the value of newspapers to key target audiences.