Australian publishers pressured to reveal daily figures

Posted by Savita Sauvin on August 16, 2010 at 1:15 PM

After media buyers and advertisers said they did not want rolling averages of circulation data each month, newspaper publishers are now being pressured by the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) to disclose individual weekday sales figures, The Australian reported today.

Currently, newspaper publishers release data each quarter. Publishers had put forth a plan in which they would release two audited bi-yearly statements, in addition to 13-week average sales figures that would be released each month. This alternative proposal, among others issued by publishers "do not address key concerns raised by our members," which include top media buying agencies, the MFA stated in a letter to the country's four largest publishers.

"Averages don't work," Carol Morris, executive director of the MFA, told The Australian. "We do want to know how Monday performs compared with Thursday. If Julia Gillard overthrows Kevin Rudd, what happens to the circulation of newspapers?"

Newspaper publishers will meet with the MFA on Sept. 6, she said.

Taking into consideration publisher's concerns about revealing sensitive data to its competitors, which could bring down advertising market rates, Nick Keenan, joint national trading director of media agency MediaCom, told The Australian that the important thing to understand today is how people consume information, whether its on different websites or different platforms, such as mobiles or e-readers, such as the iPad.

Newspaper circulation in Australia dropped in the second quarter, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation figures. Monday to Sunday newspaper sales were down 2.5 percent year-over-year.

The Sunday Mail in Queensland witnessed a circulation drop of nearly 7 percent, The Australian Financial Review was down 6 percent and The Age experiencing a fall of 4.5 percent. While the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian continue to hold steady during these tough times, only The West Australian showed some increase in circulation, Crikey.com.au reported last week.

Magazine publishers, meanwhile, have agreed to release quarterly circulation data for weekly magazines and six-month data for monthly titles, according to The Australian.