Newspaper bosses have something to cheer them in today’s release of the latest industry figures – website circulations for many are on the up in a big way.
The UK’s most read regional newspaper website, the Manchester Evening News, also experienced the highest percentage increase in unique users in the second half of 2014, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC)
The MEN website had an average of 414,810 daily unique users – a year-on-year increase of 194.3pc with fellow Trinity Mirror title the Newcastle Chronicle showing the next highest increase with 155,831 average daily users – up 173.3pc.
Stablemate, The Journal was one of only two titles in the UK which saw a year on year drop (-6.9%)
David Higgerson, digital publishing director for Trinity Mirror’s regional brands, told HoldtheFrontPage that the increases were due to ‘taking a digital first approach to content’.
“This latest growth comes on top of significant growth in 2014 v 2013. We are seeing substantial growth on mobile, as is to be expected, but also growth on our desktop sites too.
“The increasing use of digital analytics to inform and determine content decisions is helping us deliver more of the content people want, when they want it, especially among local users.”
Across the other groups, The Yorkshire Post (Johnston Press) only managed a year on year increase of 29.6% for its 29,343 users while The Northern Echo (Newsquest) reported 50,145 users, a rise of 47.5%.
