Sunday 6 August 2017

More data on the Media in Wales

Local weekly papers and regional dailies show continuing decline in print sales 
However there is increase in the viewing of regional press websites 
In a post prior to the Senedd (National Assembly for Wales) election and also the June 23rd 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, I discussed what helped to account for the fact that the level of interest shown by the people of Wales was considerably higher for the referendum ( 82%) than the Senedd election (59%). 


Without doubt a major reason was the nature and content of news coverage in Wales, including which sectors of that medium predominates in our country.

When one tunes in to the latest UK political news, it is often dominated by the news and events surrounding the Westminster ‘village‘. This is natural, but unfortunately at a time of elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland such preponderance of Westminster news clearly impacts on people’s exposure to the campaign issues in those countries.
Put simply, the people of Wales are not regularly exposed and certainly not over-exposed to news coverage about Senedd matters.
One of the most striking findings of the 2016 survey was the significantly low number of people reading a newspaper produced in Wales – 5% or fewer.

The Western Mail carries the most comprehensive coverage of the Senedd, but the survey revealed that fewer than 4% regularly read it. When people were asked to name their main newspaper, just 1% of respondents selected The Western Mail.
The Daily Mail, by contrast, is almost ten times more likely to be named as a main daily newspaper and is read regularly by four times more people in Wales than The Western Mail.
Broadcasters in Wales, on the other hand, reach a far greater proportion of people than newspapers..
BBC Wales Today is the most widely consumed – 37% of people frequently tune in – while 17% and 13% of people in Wales regularly watch ITV’s Wales Tonight or listen to BBC Radio Wales respectively.
But UK wide news is the predominant source for Welsh people’s news.
The BBC News at Six or Ten is watched by nearly 37% of respondents regularly, while 30% of people tune into the BBC News channel. ITV’s Evening News or News at Ten and Sky News are viewed less often – 11% and 13% respectively – but still rank as key sources relative to other news produced in Wales.
Added to the specific news programmes, such as above, is the impact of a range of other regular daily or weekly news-bearing productions such as Daily Politics, Newsnight, Panorama, Question Time and the like, which taken all together really do ‘swamp’ the coverage provided by indigenous programmes produced in Wales.
Recently I have come across further updated data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) which shows a continuing decline in the readership of the local weekly newspapers and regional dailies.  
Local weekly newspapers in the UK lost print circulation by an average of 11.2 per cent year on year in the second half of 2016. The figures suggest a quickening in the pace of print decline in recent years, possibly fuelled by cover price rises, editorial cutbacks and readership moving to online.

Weekly Newspaper
Average. Circulation
% Decline Year on Year
Wales on Sunday
11,608
N/A
Western Telegraph
11,089

10.0
Carmarthen Journal
9,759
13.1
Llanelli Star
7,747
15.5
North Wales Weekly News
6,408
18.0
Glamorgan Gazette
5,637
22.4
Newport Advertiser
4,970
N/A
Tivyside Advertiser
4,756
9.4
Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald
4863
24.7
Holyhead and Bangor Mail
4,130
18.7
South Wales Guardian
4,157
8.3
Merthyr Express
3,607
30.1
Penarth Times
3,313
11.4
Barry and District News
3,229
10.3
Free Press Monmouthshire & Pontypool
3,466
14.7
Rhondda Leader
2,625
24.7
Pontypridd & Llantrisant Observer
2,024
28.6
Cynon Valley Leader
1,975
24.6
Gwent Gazette
1,646
28.8

The grim performance was marginally better than regional dailies, which fell by an average of 12.5 per cent in the same period according to ABC.
Daily Newspaper
Average Circulation
% Decline Y on Year

South Wales Evening Post
28,477
14.90%
Daily Post
26,348
4.90%
Western Mail
21,911
N/A
South Wales Echo
21,370
17.60%
Wales on Sunday
15,656
15.70%
South Wales Argus
13,197
33.20

A redeeming feature is that nearly every regional newspaper website audited by ABC recorded strong growth in the second half of 2016.
Newspaper on Line
Average Daily View
% Increase Y/Year
Wales Online
292,824
13.1
Daily Post Wales
81,125
5.1
South Wales Evening Post
51,222
N/A
South Wales Argus
40,662
N/A