Lesson 9: Audience consumption

Traditional Printed Paper:

· In November 2010 the National Daily Newspaper circulation for the Guardian was 270,582 (down 13.1% from previous year)

· The circulation for the Sun was 2,898,113 (down 2.96% from previous year)

· Mail online remained the most visited UK newspaper website in April, according to the latest figures from the audit bureau of circulations electronic published today.

Online Newspaper and community:

· Guardian.co.uk was again the second most popular national newspaper website, with just over 1.8 million average daily browsers, and telegraph.co.uk third, with just under 1.6 million.

· News International (the Sun) withdrew its websites from the abce audit last month in preparation for content from the Times and Sunday Times going behind a paywall in June, to be followed by the Sun and News of the World at a later date.

· National newspaper websites now use an average of daily visitor numbers as their headline measurement figure as it is felt to be more representative than a monthly user figure.

This picture is complicated further, however, as the number of copies sold doesn’t necessarily equal the number of readers: many people share their copy of a printed newspaper so the readership and/or circulation figures can only ever be a rough guide. They are vital to the industry of course, because a newspaper which reaches a larger audience can charge more for its advertising space, and newspapers make more money from advertising than anything else. The cover price in most cases will not cover the cost of production