Wan- Ifra survey shows newspapers still reach larger audience than internet

VIENNA , Oct. 12, 2011 (Press Release) - Newspaper circulation declined in print world-wide last year but was more than made up by an increase in digital audiences, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) said Thursday in its annual update of world press trends.

"Circulation is like the sun. It continues to rise in the East and decline in the West," said Christoph Riess, CEO of WAN-IFRA, who presented the annual survey Thursday at the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Vienna, Austria.

The survey found:

• Media consumption patterns vary widely across the globe. Print circulation is increasing in Asia, but declining in mature markets in the West.
• The number of titles globally is consolidating.
• The main decline is in free dailies. "For free dailies, the hype is over," said Mr Riess.
• For advertisers, newspapers are more time efficient and effective than other media.
• Newspapers reach more people than the internet. On a typical day newspapers reach 20 percent more people world-wide than the internet reaches, ever.

• Digital advertising revenues are not compensating for the ad revenues lost to print.
• Social media are changing the concept and process of content gathering and dissemination. But the revenue model for news companies, in the social media arena, remains hard to find.
• The business of news publishing has become one of constant updating, of monitoring, distilling and repacking information.
• The new digital business is not the traditional newspaper business.

Mr Riess's presentation focused on six key areas: the media consumption shift; economic developments; newspaper circulation and number of titles; advertising expenditure by media; newspaper revenue; and internet versus mobile.

This represented a significant shift from past versions of the world press trends survey, which WAN-IFRA has been carrying out since 1988. Long a statistical compendium of information from more than 200 countries, the 2011 report focuses on the 69 countries that account for 90 percent of global industry value in terms of circulation and advertising revenue. "We're concentrating on value rather than volume, focusing on key numbers in key markets," said Mr Riess. "Our approach puts a premium on insight over numbers." This reflects feedback from industry stakeholders, as part of the new WAN/IFRA review. But the survey will continue to monitor all countries.

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