Community newspapers, including Lowveld Media publications, outshine others
The Audit Bureau of Circulations South Africa's (ABC) recently released its figures for the third quarter of 2022. Lowveld Media's community newspapers are among those that showed positive growth.
Statistics show that when it comes to reaching consumers across South Africa, the local media segment outshines daily, weekly and weekend newspapers.
Lowveld Media’s very own Lowvelder, Lowvelder Express and Mpumalanga News are among those that shine.
The year-on-year growth in the print sector continues to be driven by local papers.
This is according to Jacqui Hansen, head of marketing at Spark Media, Caxton Local Media’s national print sales division, who was responding to the recently released Audit Bureau of Circulations South Africa’s (ABC) figures for the third quarter of 2022.
Caxton Local Media publishes 116 titles, with a print order of 2.9 million copies, and has 61 news websites and 67 Facebook platforms across all nine provinces of South Africa.
“Local newspapers remain the dominant force in the print media landscape, accounting for 87% of all audited newspapers in South Africa,” said Hansen.
The ABC figures show the total combined circulation of print media in South Africa increased from 5 740 383 copies in Q3 of 2021 to 6 472 474 copies in Q3 of 2022.
A closer look at local papers
The good news, she said, is that in Q3 of 2022, local newspapers circulated almost seven times as many copies as daily, weekly and weekend newspapers combined (5 661 932 versus 810 542 copies in Q3 2022).
“Free local newspaper circulations have grown year-on-year by 18.3% (847 372 copies).
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“This growth is predominantly due to the addition of a new member, Vuk’uzenzele. But 46 other titles have reported increases in their circulations. Coastal titles seem to be showing the largest increases.
“We continue to see innovation in this sector as publishers adapt their offerings to maximise coverage and meet the growing demand from readers and advertisers alike. Key among this innovation are papers that offer a hybrid distribution, such as Lowvelder Friday/Lowvelder Express, which has grown by 2 500 copies since Q1 2022 (from 33 519 copies in Q1 2021 to 36 025 copies in Q3 2022),” she said.
Hansen explained that while sold local papers remain under pressure, there is resilience in areas such as KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
“Here we see papers such as the Witbank News, Middelburg Observer, Mpumalanga News and Zululand Observer showing double-digit growth.
“Witbank News grew by 42.3%. Middelburg Observer grew by 32.03%. Mpumalanga News grew by 10.15%. Both editions of the Zululand Observer reported year-on-year increases in Q3. Zululand Observer Weekend grew by 10.93% and Zululand Observer Monday by 1.7%.”
Future outlook
“As we head into the festive period, local papers continue to provide better coverage than daily, weekly and weekend newspapers,” said Chris Halstead, Spark Media’s head of sales.
“A press schedule that includes every audited daily, weekly and weekend title provides 810 542 copies countrywide. In contrast, local newspapers continue to show their resilience, currently circulating 5.6 million copies a week,” he said.
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Servaas de Kock, the group executive of Caxton/CTP digital, said one must remember that the ABC’s figures tell only part of the story. He says that data from Google Analytics for July to September 2022 show that online editions of local papers continue to gain traction.
“The online editions of the Caxton local papers reached over 10 million users online and delivered over 25 million page views.”
“Local newspapers continue to provide an effective route to market for small businesses operating in local markets and national brands and retailers who are fighting for their share, store by store and area by area, in local markets across South Africa,” said Hansen.
