CIRCULATION & READERSHIP - December 2007

Friday, February 15, 2008

FAIRFAX MEDIA PUBLICATIONS CIRCULATION AND READERSHIP RESULTS FOR NEWSPAPERS, INSERTED MAGAZINES AND WEBSITES – TO DECEMBER 2008

THE AGE HIGHEST READERSHIP ON RECORD


The Age has again recorded strong readership and circulation gains in the year ended December 2007, according to the latest industry reports.

Readership grew on all days of the week during 2007, according to independent figures released today by Roy Morgan Research. The increase during the past 12 months was 5.2%, with an average of 767,000 readers Monday to Friday. This is the highest readership since 1985 and the pre-internet age.

When it comes to the influential and affluent AB readers, The Age has attracted a further 21,000 readers, or 6.8%, to 331,000.

In addition to the printed edition of The Age, The Age Online attracted 2.7 million average unique monthly browsers for the quarter ended December '07. Overall, our print and online audience is at a record level.

Sales of The Age are also strong and we have recorded our ninth consecutive quarter-year increase, with rises on every day of the week. According to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation figures, weekday sales increased by a further 1% to an average 204,100. In contrast, the rest of Australia's major daily newspapers were down by an average of 0.8%.

Saturday's Age also maintained steady sales growth last year, and is now selling about 298,500 copies each week, a 0.1% increase over the previous year.

The Sunday Age continues to consolidate its position as the fastest-growing newspaper in the country. With average weekly sales of 226,000 copies, the paper recorded growth of 5.6% during 2007.

Increasingly our readers enjoy the convenience of The Age home-delivered and subscriptions are at an all-time high of 120,000. If you would like to subscribe to The Age, call 136 666 or visit www.theage.com.au/subscribe.

We believe that these latest results underlie our commitment to deliver world-class news, information and highquality independent analysis.

-- Andrew Jaspan, Editor-in-Chief


DON CHURCHILL
CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND PUBLISHER
VICTORIAN METROPOLITAN AND COMMUNITY PUBLISHING

The Age has once again been given a strong vote of confidence by its readers as circulation and readership results record another period of impressive growth.

Sales are up across all days of the week. Subscription levels are at a record high of more than 120,000. The Sunday Age recorded percentage growth of 5.61%, further consolidating its position as the fastest-growing newspaper in the country.

Readership has also grown on all days of the week. Wtih an average of 767,000 readers Monday-to-Friday, The Age is experiencing its highest readership on record, making it the fastest-growing newspaper in Victoria on week days.

Importantly, The Age's weekday AB readers increased by 21,000 to 331,000, while its nearest competitor in Victoria dropped 5,000 readers in this coveted readership demographic. That equates to an increased AB advantage of 70,000 weekday readers compared with 44,000 a year ago.

Please click here to download further statistics.

Source: Fairfax Media
Release Date: 15 Feb 2008 00:00