Print media in good shape says Patterson

"In the newspaper sector, Daily Sun continues to reign supreme with a growth of almost 45%. It appears that this growth is at the expense of the Citizen, the biggest loser in this category. Newspapers targeting the black market have shown strong increases, but Afrikaans newspapers declined across the board. My gut feel is that the editorial is no longer as relevant as it used to be. The news is the same in the Afrikaans and English titles and as English becomes increasingly accepted as South Africa's business language, economically active Afrikaans readers will become more and more comfortable consuming news in either language. The Afrikaans press need to re-look their editorial policy and find ways to add value to retain their readers.

"Many of the foreign title magazines, that follow a fixed formula, are showing great returns which will probably encourage more entrants into that market. This will no doubt put pressure on local titles. Getaway is down 13% and these readers have probably been lost to Weg which secured a launch ABC of 74 396. In the business category Finance Week and Finansies & Tegniek are up over 23% and 25% respectively. Home and Décor magazines are generally down, but Male Interest magazines are showing healthy returns.

"Although there is a great deal of print information available through AMPS, the ABC is the true acid test as there is no margin of error in audited circulation figures. ABC is and will remain the source of all comparison for media professionals and advertisers and it is extremely encouraging to see such positive news for print media," concludes Patterson.