Community Spirit Still Strong for Newspapers

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Article No. 6282 Available on www.roymorgan.com Link to Roy Morgan Profiles

Thursday, 11 June 2015 Community spirit still strong for newspapers

Australians continue to read their local papers, the latest Roy Morgan Community Newspaper Readership results for the 24 months to March 2015 show.

In Sydney, the hills are alive with the sound of pages turning. Readership of the Hills Shire Times grew 13.2% to 86,000 and the Hornsby Advocate rose 20.6% to 76,000. Also up north, the Manly Daily’s Saturday edition grew 9.9% to 133,000, while its weekday editions held steady with over

E E 100,000 readers per average issue. However the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader remains the most-read community paper in the state, unchanged with an average 194,000 readers per issue. Overall, Sydney’s community paper readership held steady with 2,209,000 people reading local newspapers.

In Melbourne, the Waverley/Oakleigh Monash Leader scored 12.9% growth to 96,000 readers to become the most-read community paper in Victoria. Next door neighbour the Caulfield Glen Eira/Port Phillip Leader also did well, growing 13.4% to 76,000 readers. However last year’s two most-read papers, the Geelong Independent and Geelong News, both shed nearly a fifth of their readers. Net community paper readership in the Melbourne region is overall down 1.4% to 1,867,000.

In Brisbane, the aptly titled Brisbane News is the standout success, growing 25.3% to 109,000 readers, with other good results for the South-East Advertiser (up 21.9% to 78,000) and Southern Star (up 16.2% to 79,000). Smaller publications with double-digit growth include the Bayside & Northern Suburbs Star (up 23.3% to 53,000), Caboolture News (up 17.0% to 55,000), City North News (up 16.7% to 21,000), Ipswich Advertiser (up 14.0% to 49,000) and Caboolture Shire Herald (up 12.5% to 45,000). Single-digit growth for widely read publications including Albert & Logan News, North-West News, and Westside News also helped give the Brisbane region a net gain of

FOR FOR IMMEDIATERELEAS 11.9%, or an extra 100,000 readers, to 938,000.

In Perth, good news was harder to come by. The Guardian Express, Perth Voice, and Western Suburbs Weekly each gained 5,000 readers but many others lost ground. Overall, net readership in Perth was hardest hit of all the capitals, down 4.5% to 802,000.

In Adelaide, the many Messengers were a mixed bag. While the Northern Messenger grew 20.6% to 76,000 readers, the Weekly Times Messenger grew 10.9% to 71,000, and the Portside Messenger grew 4.7% to 45,000, all others fell. This drove down the Adelaide region’s net readership 1.2% to 583,000.

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Community Newspaper Readership 24m to March 24m to March 2014 2015 Readership (000s) Readership (000s) SYDNEY COMMUNITY PUBLICATIONS Auburn Pictorial Review 32 34 Blacktown Advocate 71 68 Blacktown City Sun 56 54 Blue Mountains Gazette 62 66 Camden Advertiser 25 29 Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser 96 102

Canterbury-Bankstown Express 51 46

E E Central 17 16 Express Advocate (Wed,Fri Av) 154 148 Fairfield Advance 72 71 Fairfield City Champion 74 74 Hawkesbury Courier 28 26 Hawkesbury Gazette 24 21 Hills News 71 63 Hills Shire Times 76 86 Hornsby Advocate 63 76 Inner West Courier (Tue,Thu Av) 90 83 Lake Times 17 23 Liverpool City Champion 83 80 Liverpool Leader 80 80 Macarthur Chronicle 100 98 Manly Daily (Tue-Fri Av) 104 104 Manly Daily (Sat) 121 133 Mosman Daily 48 49 Newcastle & Lake Macquarie Post 50 45

Newcastle Star 78 67 FOR FOR IMMEDIATERELEAS North Shore Times (Wed,Fri Av) 76 82 Northern Times 55 53 Parramatta Advertiser 105 110 Penrith City Star 43 35 Penrith Press (Tue,Fri Av) 61 59 Rouse Hill Times 24 20 Southern Courier 74 83 Standard (Mt Druitt-St Marys) 42 36 St George & Suth Shire Leader (Tue,Thu Av) 194 194 St Marys Mt Druitt Star 35 34 Sun (Parramatta/Holroyd edns) 34 29 Torch (Bankstown-Canterbury) 110 91 TWT Weekly Times 41 32 Wentworth Courier 85 90

Western Weekender 35 40 Wollondilly Advertiser 16 22 Wollongong Advertiser 68 69 SYDNEY REGION TOTAL 2210 2209 MELBOURNE COMMUNITY PUBLICATIONS Bayside Leader 69 72 Berwick Leader 64 62 Berwick/Pakenham News 51 51 Brimbank & North West Star Weekly 27 23 Brimbank Leader 60 60 Caulfield Glen Eira/Port Phillip Leader 67 76 Cranbourne Leader 34 29 Cranbourne News 23 18

E E Dandenong Journal 43 55 Dandenong/Springvale Dand Leader 68 60 Diamond Valley Leader 59 59 Echo (Geelong) 35 32 Frankston Standard Leader 86 90 Geelong Independent 101 81 Geelong News 95 77 Heidelberg Leader 34 40 Hobsons Bay Leader 27 25 Hume Leader 61 57 Knox Leader 93 93 Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader 43 47 Manningham Leader 66 65 Maribyrnong & Hobsons Bay Star Weekly 27 16 Maribyrnong Leader 25 20 Maroondah Leader 45 43 Melbourne Leader 41 36 Melton & Moorabool Star Weekly 29 25 Melton Leader 38 31

FOR FOR IMMEDIATERELEAS Moonee Valley Leader 42 38 Moorabbin Kingston/Moorabbin Glen Eira Leader 64 60 Mordialloc Chelsea Leader 38 36 Moreland Leader 65 60 Mornington Peninsula Leader 71 81 Mountain Views/Upper Yarra Mail 20 21 Northcote Leader 26 30 Preston Leader 43 45 Progress Leader 54 54 Ranges Trader/Ferntree Gully, Belgrave Mail 14 17 Stonnington Leader 42 48 Sunbury & Macedon Ranges Star Weekly 21 18 Sunbury/Macedon Ranges Leader 37 35 Waverley/Oakleigh Monash Leader 85 96 Whitehorse Leader 85 88

Whittlesea Leader 67 57 Wyndham/Point Cook Wyndham Leader 48 51 Wyndham Star Weekly 41 48 MELBOURNE TOTAL 1893 1867 BRISBANE COMMUNITY PUBLICATIONS Albert & Logan News (Thu) 94 97 Bayside Bulletin 74 71 Bayside and Northern Suburbs Star 43 53 Brisbane News 87 109 Caboolture News 47 55 Caboolture Shire Herald 40 45 City North News 18 21 City South News 22 24

E E Ipswich Advertiser 43 49 Noosa News (Tue,Fri Av) 34 36 Northside Chronicle 77 76 North-West News 69 73 TOTAL Pine Rivers Press/North Lakes Times 42 36 Redcliffe and Bayside Herald 45 44 Redland Times 64 57 Reporter 26 28 Satellite 31 32 South-East Advertiser 64 78 Southern Star 68 79 TOTAL South-West News/Springfield News 47 48 Westside News 59 61 Wynnum Herald 50 49 BRISBANE TOTAL 838 938 PERTH COMMUNITY PUBLICATIONS Canning Times 44 41 Comment News 46 40 Eastern Reporter 61 51

FOR FOR IMMEDIATERELEAS Echo 47 47 TOTAL Examiner Newspapers 84 60 Fremantle Gazette 30 28 Cockburn Gazette 39 33 Guardian Express 24 29 TOTAL Herald Newspapers 93 88 Hills/Avon Valley Gazette 49 49 Joondalup Times 69 62 Wanneroo Times 62 54 Joondalup Weekender 46 37 Wanneroo Weekender 25 22 Mandurah Coastal/Pinjarra Murray Times 49 40 Mandurah Mail 54 44 Melville Times 43 44 Midland/Kalamunda Reporter 50 50

Midland Reporter 27 27 Kalamunda Reporter 25 25 Perth Voice 36 41 TOTAL Post Newspapers 68 72 Sound Telegraph 39 41 Southern Gazette 44 43 Stirling Times 73 67 Weekend Courier 54 48 Western Suburbs Weekly 44 49 PERTH TOTAL 840 802 ADELAIDE COMMUNITY PUBLICATIONS City (was City Messenger) 35 30 City North Messenger 38 32

E E East Torrens Messenger 37 29 Eastern Courier Messenger 69 66 Guardian Messenger 68 66 Leader Messenger 47 41 Mitcham & Hills Messenger 29 28 News Review Messenger 34 15 Northern Messenger 63 76 Portside Messenger 43 45 Southern Times Messenger 95 86 Weekly Times Messenger 64 71 ADELAIDE TOTAL 590 583 Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, April 2012 – March 2014 n = 99,231, April 2013 – March 2015 n = 99,941 Australians 14+

The total readership of News Limited papers rose just under 1%, to 5,062,000, driven by outstanding 13.2% growth in total Quest readership in Queensland and a steady overall result for the NewsLocal network in NSW.

Fairfax’s publications maintained a combined reach of just over a million across NSW and Victoria,

down 2.8% compared with the 24 months to March 2014. FOR FOR IMMEDIATERELEAS Tim Martin, General Manager - Media, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“These latest Roy Morgan Community Readership results show that the local news industry is holding ground, especially when compared with metro dailies over the period.

“This positive result illustrates the continuing need for accurate monitoring and differentiation of local newspapers.”

For comments or more information please contact:

Tim Martin General Manager – Media Office: +61 (3) 9224 5116 [email protected]

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E E FOR FOR IMMEDIATERELEAS