by Herman Manson (@marklives) The Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa has released newspaper-circulation statistics for the period April–June 2018 (ABC Q2 2018); see our magazine ABC analysis here.
Newspaper overview
- Total newspaper circulation remained static compared to the previous quarter, but declined by 2.5% on the prior year
- Daily newspapers declined by 4.2% on the previous quarter, and by 15.1% on the prior year
- Weekly newspapers declined by 4.8% on the previous quarter, and by 10% on the prior year
- Weekend newspapers declined by 4.2% on the previous quarter, and by 10.1% on the prior year
- Local newspapers declined by 4.8%on the previous quarter, and by 5.5% on the prior year
- Free newspapers increased by 1.9% on the previous quarter, and by 1.4% on the prior year
Biggest declines
- Sunday Sun: -29.93%
- City Press: -26.87%
- Daily Sun: -21.28%
- Mail & Guardian: -19.64%
- Saturday Dispatch: -19.10%
- Pretoria News Saturday: -18.08%
- Die Son: -17.45%
- Sunday World: -17.02%
- The Saturday Star: -16.44%
- The Herald: -13.96%
Only upside
- Business Day has grown by 0.44%
Daily papers
The tabloids are bleeding. Daily Sun is down -21.28% year on year while Die Son has fallen by -17.45%.
In Gauteng, Pretoria News has fallen by -7.89% and Beeld by -9.39% in the previous corresponding reporting period. The Star is down by -9.92%. Sowetan has fallen by -4.82%.
In the Cape, Die Burger (Eastern and Western Cape editions) has declined by -1.45%. The Cape Argus has decreased by -5.83% while the Cape Times has also declined by -4.37%.
In the Eastern Cape, Daily Dispatch has fallen by -11.95%, and The Herald by -13.96%. In KwaZulu-Natal, the Daily News is down -1.83% and The Mercury by -5.00%. The Witness falls by -9.88%. The Free State-based Volksblad has declined by -2.69% and Diamond Fields Advertiser by -6.23%.
The Citizen has declined by -3.52% but Business Day has inched up by 0.44%. Isolezwe has fallen by -6.66%.
The MarkLives Big Daily Newspaper List*
- Daily Sun: 129 831
- Isolezwe: 79 795
- The Star: 72 375
- Sowetan: 70 061
- Son: 59 480
- Die Burger: 46 983
- The Citizen: 42 595
- Beeld: 36 210
- The Cape Times: 29 611
- Cape Argus: 27 346
Weekly & weekend papers
In terms of the weeklies, The Post has declined -5.46% and Ilanga has fallen by -11.90%. The Mail & Guardian has seen a dramatic -19.64% decline. Soccer Laduma is down by -9.60%. The Voice has fallen by -2.94%
Weekend papers are down across the board. City Press
has fallen
by -26.87%.
Sunday Sun is another
epic collapse,
having fallen
by -29.93%.
Pretoria News Saturday has declined by -18.08%. The Saturday Star is down -16.44%; the Weekend Argus (Saturday and Sunday) -2.56%; and Independent on Saturday -2.88%.
Saturday Beeld has fallen by -4.55%; Die Burger (Saturday) by -3.95% (Western & Eastern Cape editions) and Saturday Dispatch by -19.10%.
Rapport has fallen by -9.63%. The Sunday Times is down by -4.62%. Sunday Tribune has declined by -4.44% and Sunday World has fallen by -17.02%.
Ilanga Langesonto has declined by -8.59% and Isolezwe ngeSonto by -5.17%. Isolezwe ngoMgqibelo is down -4.61%.
The MarkLives’ Biggest Circulation Per Issue Newspaper List*
Q2 2018
- Sunday Times: 250 575
- Soccer Laduma: 235 907
- Daily Sun: 129 831
- Rapport: 112 332
- Isolezwe: 79 795
- The Star: 72 375
- Sowetan: 70 061
- Isolezwe ngoMgqibelo: 65 645 +1
- Isolezwe ngeSonto: 65 013 -1
- Son: 59 480
Die Burger (Saturday): 58 700
Ilanga: 57 356
Sunday Sun: 54 904
Sunday Tribune 50 386
City Press: 50 200
*South African titles only. Must have a cover price. Excludes free papers.
See also
- Circulation data Q2 2018: Magazines fall by 15% YoY
- ABC Analysis – Circulation Data
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.
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