digitalalba Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 According to ABC, no not the 80's pop group haha http://www.abc.org.uk/Certificates/18358252.pdf Going on the first chart, the paper sold about 55,000 copies early 2010 and has since lost 13,000 copies per day to 42,000 late last year, which is roughly a downturn of -24%. Quite a large decline, what do you think has turned a quarter of its customers away?
Finnegan Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 The fact it's shit. (And newspaper readership is declining anyway, tablets with news apps, mobile phones, the internet, etc.)
Webbo Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 All paid for print newspapers are on their way out. I reckon the Mercury will be a free paper or finished within 10 years.
Zingari Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 I used to love newspapers ( local and national) , but can't remember the last time i bought one now . Sad, but i think we're near the end .
Fox92 Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 Print is on the decline, one of the reasons. I have to study Media as a side unit and we cover stuff like this all the time. Portable devices are taking over. I never buy a newspaper. I doubt people my age do. I'd much rather browse google news wherever I am, for free, and (this is the key bit) look for the stuff I actually want to read. It's all much easier.
Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 Much more convenient and instant ways to find local and national news, job listings, classifieds, weather updates, etc... I do like a physical paper but very rarely buy them anymore. With smartphones as readily available and cheap these days, you really can find out anything you want in a matter of seconds, for free. I think most papers will be dead in the foreseeable future
Raj Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 i work in print. when i started 21 years ago we had print runs for job amounting to 1milion+. Nowadays were lucky to have largest runs of say 250,000. Defo seen a massive decline in printing hence the lack of jobs/opportunities. BUT it sems like and luckily for us some minority of people still like the feel and touch and having the brochure at hand rather than on computer.
lcfc"weasel" Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 I prefer having a newspaper in my hands, but why would I pay for them everyday when I can get the same, plus many more viewpoints out of my pocket with my phone or sitting at my desk on the computer.
Fox92 Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 BUT it sems like and luckily for us some minority of people still like the feel and touch and having the brochure at hand rather than on computer. Do you think that will become less and less though? I don't know if there are statistics avaliable, but I'd say more of the older generation have to/prefer to purchase a newspaper. On the other hand, the younger generation (me included), find it easier to look on the internet via a computer and/or portable device. Surely as we get older and pass on our preferences, print will continue to suffer until eventually there will be very few people interested in a hard copy. The printing media to have to adapt. I know newspapers have websites, and some stream their news through the likes of facebook and youtube, but their main income which they obviously rely on (as they are a business) is people money. The only way they achieve that is through selling a hard copy.
Raj Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 Do you think that will become less and less though? I don't know if there are statistics avaliable, but I'd say more of the older generation have to/prefer to purchase a newspaper. On the other hand, the younger generation (me included), find it easier to look on the internet via a computer and/or portable device. Surely as we get older and pass on our preferences, print will continue to suffer until eventually there will be very few people interested in a hard copy. The printing media to have to adapt. I know newspapers have websites, and some stream their news through the likes of facebook and youtube, but their main income which they obviously rely on (as they are a business) is people money. The only way they achieve that is through selling a hard copy. Haven't magazine sales gone up though? We a res still producing a large array of holiday mags and classey brochures but the print run is smaller. There is a biger range of publications though. Still think there will be a call for print media but like you say they have to adopt. Alot of brochures are now A5 cos of postage costs. Holiday mags are still a firm fav for people to take home and look at in their leisure and then you have the womans favourites like heat mag and all that...
Rincewind Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 You can get most news online now. Most newspapers are biased one way or the other. The magazine I now work for are intending to change to a newspaper format. It will be free but only available in certain areas. Charities organizations etc. We will just report on what is relevant without bias. Anyone can submit articles and stories of interest. As a sub-editor I may be involved in deciding what goes in. We are hoping to bring it out monthly.
vandamman Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 I don't find any of the articles that interesting in the Mercury, especially the ones where a local primary school has planted a tree or similar, big whoop! I would rather spend a bit more and get a decent paper, one that will keep me interested for longer.
Saxondale Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 I wrote my dissertation on this exact subject ten years ago. My conclusion has, so far, been proven correct, which was that people will continue to buy newspapers, albeit in fewer numbers, despite being able to get news content for free. However, the reason I will be proven wrong within the next ten years is the fact that I didn't anticipate the move in advertising spend towards online - which is what ultimate dictates the market.
acooling08 Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 It's a little weird. When it comes to reading, I have always prefered a book to anything else. Get comfortable on the sofa/in bed with a book is much better than a Kindle. I also like to have a physical object in my possession if I'm paying for something. E.g. I never pay to download PS3 games, I'll buy the disc. However with news, I prefer google news or whatever online to buying a paper. Papers have no value the day after purchase, are uncomfortable to read and tend to be unbalanced in one way or another.
notnow john Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 Sitting on the bog,reading the paper is a working class tradition. How many of you take a laptop? Surely not!
Voll Blau Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 It's a little weird. When it comes to reading, I have always prefered a book to anything else. Get comfortable on the sofa/in bed with a book is much better than a Kindle. I also like to have a physical object in my possession if I'm paying for something. E.g. I never pay to download PS3 games, I'll buy the disc. However with news, I prefer google news or whatever online to buying a paper. Papers have no value the day after purchase, are uncomfortable to read and tend to be unbalanced in one way or another. True of the nationals, definitely not true of regionals or locals.
Guest MattP Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 If you have good quality you will still sell papers, The Times has fantastic stuff inside and i think it's well worth £1 a day. The Mercury is quite frankly dreadful and I wouldn't even take a copy if it was passed out free (much like that sire thing the metro). You get what you pay for in life and that's no different when it comes to newspapers.
Voll Blau Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 If you have good quality you will still sell papers, The Times has fantastic stuff inside and i think it's well worth £1 a day. The Mercury is quite frankly dreadful and I wouldn't even take a copy if it was passed out free (much like that sire thing the metro). You get what you pay for in life and that's no different when it comes to newspapers. A decline in quality is inevitable when the accountants and number crunchers at the top insist on making nigh on continuous redundancies to those at the bottom of the pile in the newsroom in order to save their own salaries.
silebyboy Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 Sitting on the bog,reading the paper is a working class tradition. How many of you take a laptop? Surely not! Laptop no, phone yes.
Thracian Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 Having worked for the Mercury at a time when its daily circulation was 180.000 and when it was a genuine evening newspaper which published a Saturday sports buff that hit the streets less than an hour after games finished, the latest, rapidly declining figures, are a sad commentary. The paper is no longer published in Leicester, has a very early deadline and entirely reflects the adage "you get what you pay for". Yes. it is fighting a seemingly losing battle with the competition, but the rate of decline surely suggests that it has largely lost its way as the authoratative and campaigning voice that it should be. Publications survive by having items of importance or interest that cannot be read elsewhere, by flying a few flags with passion and by having sufficient impact to be heard. Instead the Mercury seems to have been editorially diluted almost beyond recognition.
SystonFox Posted 4 March 2013 Posted 4 March 2013 the Merc is a terrible newspaper and seemingly week by week is creeping up in price 2p or so. when i used to deliver the thing some 13 years ago i think it was selling for 25p a day? last time i remember reading one it was 60p (this couldve been a saturday one though) all newspapers are crap. just read the news on the internet for free and its largely unbiased. just a true account of what happened whereas most tabloids favour political parties/types of celebs/types of football teams and players. all a huge crock of shite
Finnegan Posted 5 March 2013 Posted 5 March 2013 what do you think has turned a quarter of its customers away? Having worked for the Mercury
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