Regional Newspaper Results

I have posted before about the Manchester Evening News and its strategy of giving away its copies in the city centre.According to a repoprt just posted on Press Gazette on the latest regional circs

"The Manchester Evening News's paid for circulation was hit hard by its part-paid part-free strategy introduced in May 2006, plunging 26.8 per cent to 94,018 in the latest set of regional ABCs.
Despite the tragic headline figure the MEN's audience reach has expanded dramatically since the free strategy was put in place. The MEN axed its free Lite edition in favour of 50,000 free copies of the full paid-for title, distributed in the city centre. That figure was later increased to 60,000 copies. "

It appears that understandably paid for circulation has dropped but the paper is no doubt getting wider coverage for its advertisers and has not ruled out turning completely to free circulation.

Across the board practically all rergionals are showing falls with weeklies particually suffering

Weekly newspapers are being dragged into the general circulation malaise of the British newspaper industry, with few able to boast growth.

reports Guardian Media with London Weeklies particually hard hit.

But says Greenslade:

the regional newspaper industry is no longer as concerned about these figures as it once was. It is convinced that the audience for Britain's 1,300 provincial papers, far from disappearing, is increasing because of its multi-media innovations. Apart from newspaper websites, regional titles also publish some 600 magazines and there are 28 radio stations and two TV stations attached to newspaper brands.