The average daily sale during January, February and March was 112,273. Although the Zulu tabloid has breached the 100 000 mark a few times in its nine-year history, this quarter's sale is almost 8 000 higher than the 104,481 achieved in the first quarter of 2010.
"It's a delight," says editor, Mazwi Xaba. "A daily newspaper can be a relentlessly hungry beast. But, when sales go up like this, it's such a tangible affirmation of what we're doing. We're driven by the support of our reader base and when they respond to our coverage of breaking news and popular personalities by buying
Isolezwe in their thousands, it drives us forward."
"The number of Zulu newspapers being bought every week is astounding," says Xaba. "When you consider
Isolezwe's five-day sale of 112,273 and our Sunday title's 77,999 - between the two,
Isolezwe is selling nearly 640,000 copies a week.
"Since
Isolezwe's launch in 2002, this Zulu market, which was written off as 'having no culture of reading', has been abuzz with readers. Our bi-weekly competitor is also selling well and the
Sunday Times is trying to get into the space," says Xaba.
Isolezwe has grown to become a highly influential voice in the country, with 696,000 average issue readers and over 4-million adults reading the title over a six-month period.
With a more laid-back feel than the week day edition, the latest circulation figures also show that Isolezwe ngeSonto is an increasingly popular Sunday read, growing by 9.5% year-on-year.
Readership figures AMPS 2010B.
