The decline continues

JTMan

More job cuts at Mediahuis. "Big changes on the way". Time to say goodbye to The Herald and some of the regionals?

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2023/03/28/irish-independent-publisher-plans-voluntary-redundancies/

jmcc

Seems that Mediahuis is looking at a Digital first strategy with those recent comments on RTE about ceasing print in about seven years. If Mediahuis is talking about this now, how bad can things be for other newspaper publishers?

Regards...jmcc

drserious4

You need only look at the mistake ridden regional papers to realise just how poor the product now is, presumably for economic reasons. How many full time staff on your average regional now, I wonder, and are they are all quadruple-jobbing?

IRE60

I make a token gesture each month to the ABC's - my lack of enthusiasm stems from the numbers becoming increasingly worthless!

However, maybe the decline is really continuing - dmgMedia have not issued a cert for the Mail or Mail on Sunday for April - thus far. If they have withdrawn, perhaps it will accelerate to abandonment of the ABC certification altogether.

(no - I was too quick to judge! Published today 18/05)

C

JTMan

Updated sales figures for the Indo after many years.

https://archive.is/QO6i8

"The Sunday Independent is now selling just over 102,000 copies, down from 143,000 at the beginning of 2020. The Sunday World was down to just under 75,000 from nearly 110,000 in the same period. The Irish Independent from Monday to Friday had average sales of barely more than 30,000, down from 46,000, while the Saturday edition had fallen from 91,000 to 64,000."

Such a huge drop in sales. No wonder Mediahuis say they will be digital-only by 2030.

Loafing Oaf

Seemingly a load of 'newsagents' round Dublin city centre have stopped selling newspapers and magazines

https://www.thejournal.ie/newspaper-sales-ireland-2-6134929-Aug2023/

Seemingly the move relates to issues with delivery charges that it may be possible to address but still a pretty ominous development for the industry...

Gloomtastic!

That delivery charge stinks of cartel.

JTMan

"It means an “overwhelming majority” of news retailers are being charged in excess of €6,500 per year just to receive papers and magazines".

Wow! With newspaper sales down about 80% from peak - how many retailers can justify paying €6,500 for the sake of a few sales - and using up shelf space?

Aldi and Lidl stopped selling newspapers a while ago. Some Mace stores have stopped too. Who's next?

drserious4

Death by a thousand cuts here. How many daily newspapers will there be in 2025?

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120950472#Comment_120950472

I've seen newspapers on sale in the local Lidl so it may not be all Lidl stores. Those Indo figures above are quite shocking. If its figures are down that much, how far have the IT's sales fallen?

Regards...jmcc

JTMan

You can bet that the Irish Times newspaper sales are down 80-90% from peak too. Digital subs are obviously somewhat compensating.

Interesting that Lidl are picking and choosing which shops to cease newspaper sales in.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120951274#Comment_120951274

Lidl tends to be clever with its marketing. There is also an Aldi and another large store all within two hundred metres of each other. Aldi stopped selling newspapers some time ago.

Not sure about the IT's digital subs compensating. It never publishes specifics on the subs such as discounts, breakdowns by period or non-renewal rates. The Sindo/Indo seem to be in the same position on digital subs but Mediahuis seems to have a clearer idea of what it wants to achieve.

The IT has always had problems getting to grips with digital publishing and paywalls. The front page of its website is a mess and it looks like a viewspaper rather than a newspaper. That Johnson quotation about orginality always comes to mind. The Indo always seems to be more focused on news but uses screenspace more effectively.

Regards...jmcc

riddles

I contacted the Irish Times a few times with feedback on why I stopped buying their product. I got no reply which is fair enough no obligation there really. I found their content had degenerated into nothingness. I guess they are trying to connect to something new but not really knowing what that new really is. In the 80s - 90s there was always an ongoing political crisis of some sort covered intensively by radio and newspapers.

Now a general apathy in the public about the government and associated structures to actually do anything about the problems we have has turned people off reading or listening about it. People gravitate to online sources where they know they can get confirmation of their own views and be active participants in that discourse.

dublinman1990

Is there a list of the shops that don't sell newspapers in Dublin City anymore published online?

Would places like Easons and all of the supermarkets in Dublin City Centre still sell newspapers and magazines on their shelves to their customers?

Going from the figures that is being reported in the article; I would have assumed Centra, which is part of Musgraves who also own Supervalu, would also still continue to sell newspapers to customers in Dublin City Centre. The newsagents who are not selling the newspapers there anymore are the smaller independent one off shops that are not owned by a corporate retail business.

I wouldn't be surprised in seeing this trend of independent newsagents who no longer sell the national newspapers being mirrored right across the country. If we continue to see better broadband connections like increased use of Fibre and 5G connections going live within more locations in rural Ireland over the next few years; I would say that the physical newspaper in that scenario would not be able to survive that battle of being a once dominant form of media anymore. The physical newspaper would just become completely irrelevant in that part of the country.

You would just see what is being mirrored in Dublin CC with physical newspapers being sold in supermarkets and in bookshops like Easons in Rural Ireland from now on.

bcklschaps

Physical news media have put up a brave battle... but they are going the same way as the phone box I'm afraid. I never buy a physical newspaper or magazine.

Also physical books.... How come practically every new book is a bestseller?

I can only assume you have to only sell a hundred or soo, to claim the "bestseller" tag (on that particular day) that's if there's even a proper way of ascertaining bestsellers 😂

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120958927#Comment_120958927

Physical book sales have actually held up pretty well. EReaders are an odd experience for lots of people, even those totally happy to do read short form (news) on phones instead

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120958927#Comment_120958927

For a small market, Ireland can be fairly active. Promotion helps with getting a book on the bestsellers lists but the necessary sales are linked to the market size. Easons have a weekly bestseller list that is interesting. Chick Lit is a very strong market along with self-help books. Many publishers do a print run and also have an electronic version on Amazon. Print sales might be slow but it is possible to run promotions on Amazon that can increase sales. Amazon also lists a book's rank in various categories so it is possible to see which are bestsellers or at least those that sell well.

I'd read between fifty and sixty books a year. Most of them would be e-books. The advantage of e-books is that the shop is always open and delivery is instant. Print bookshops are finding it hard to compete. Most book publishers have adapted but newspaper publishers in Ireland tend to be behind the curve. The IT has always been a bit clueless in that respect but its quality has declined. It is now more of a viewspaper than a newspaper. Real journalism is expensive so filler from the opinionaters helps pad the space between adverts.

The feedback loop in online advertising is also hitting print advertising hard. I remain completely cynical about digital subs replacing print sales for newspapers. Not only is Digital a different market to Print, how people read is different.

Regards...jmcc