New audited figures have revealed that the Isle of Wight’s once-dominant newspaper, the Isle of Wight County Press, has lost 66% of its print readership in just 10 years. It has been revealed this week that the County Press now has an average weekly circulation of just 10,084 – compared to 30,912 at the end of 2013. That is a readership loss of some two-thirds. Over the past decade, the Island’s news landscape has changed dramatically. Island Echo burst onto the scene in 2012, changing the local market forever with the introduction of 24/7 reporting. Then, in 2018, the Isle of Wight Observer launched as a free paper in direct competition with the County Press’ printed offering. The cover price of the Friday paper has also increased significantly during that time, from 80p in 2013 to £1.30 in 2023. The wider decline of the printed sector has not helped matters either. The new stats come following the publication of a verified certificate by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for January-December 2023. A total of 50 issues counted towards the average figure, with 22nd December (9,021 copies) and 29th December (8,946) excluded. The total number of copies sold last year was 522,167, generating £678,817 of revenue from the cover price alone. The Isle of Wight County Press had been a member of ABC since the 1920s but withdrew from the auditing scheme by 2019 as part of a wider decision by mainland owners, Newsquest. However, Newsquest Media Group – which is part of the American publishing giant Gannett – decided to return to ABC in 2022, revealing a loss of 9,670 readers for the CP between the end of 2018 and the end of 2022, despite an increased interest in local news during the COVID years. It was in March last year that long-standing editor Alan Marriott was banged out of the office, with Lori Little and Lucy Morgan taking over the helm as co-editors. Despite this change in editorship, which has seen some changes to the appearance of the paper, a total of 1,491 readers were lost in 2023 alone. If that rate of decline (12.9% Y-Y) was to continue, but not accelerate, the paper could be left with just 5,000 readers in 5 years – a stark contrast to the 18,500 copies printed by the Observer each week. The County Press offices at Brannon House on Pyle Street, Newport were put up for sale last year with an asking price of £700,000.
COUNTY PRESS HAS LOST 66% OF ITS PRINT READERSHIP IN 10 YEARS NEW FIGURES REVEAL
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What’s prompted this article, I like the county press, it’s nice and clean.
The Echo has taken over, because it is free, fast, informative on the day you need information, such as roads closed by accidents, floods etc, no point in reading about such AFTER it has happened.
The comments section is a delightful last bastion of knowing what people REALLY think, and whilst some comments are censored, not overly so, as freedom of speech is what makes this such a good read.
Akin to the old Alex Dyke phone in, all sorts can come on, voice views on a various local topics.
YOU are to blame for the CP’s demise and no small wonder. Well done guys.
Alex Dyke? What a chump he is (just my opinion of course)!
By definition, news is reported AFTER it has happened. Reporting it in advance would require impossible skills at divination.
The comments section of IE is actually a cesspool of bigotry and ignorance, and you “Ive searle” are the worst of humanity. Go back to the unholy place from whence you came. Your name is an anagram of “a vile seer”, which is so appropriate.
lol – I guess you must have a headache simon – halo slipped has it. Some on these message boards think they are paragons of virtue. The comments section on IE is a vibrant place of differing opinions and views.
just because a persons view does not sit neatly within the narrow, opinion corridor that you inhabit, Simon, doesn’t make them bigoted or ignorant.
the very fact that you refer to those offering their views as ignorant bigots, says more about you and your biased narrative than it does the other people on this site.
I find Ive searle posts to be a breath of fresh air on here. Too many brainwashed fools accepting the unacceptable. Her knowledge on gabon cages and costal errosion is excellent.
By definition, ignorance and bigotry are never hard to find in the comments on here. For example, you are displaying great ignorance with your own comment and you regularly show your bigotry by railing against “mainlanders”.
Yet, here you are commenting.
“The Echo has taken over, because”…
it appeals to the Social Media era with its (relatively) Instant, Scandal & Click-bait style of reporting (including, of course the, ‘Comments’) ….
Although “knowing what people REALLY think” is perhaps claiming a little too much,.. as it would seem that a lot of those posting comments either don’t or can’t think! & just post pathetic sht1 to get a reponse.
as for Alice the Dyke,.. who tf is Alice?
Says a paid troll.
It’s is not the Daily Echo who have taken over, it is the parent company, which resides in America, Newsquest. The County Press was shrunk to the same size as the Echo so the parent company would not have to change the machinery which prints said paper
The same obviously applies to all print copies of newspapers. Hardly newsworthy or surprising.
How did the excellent IW Observer do in the figures?
It claims 18-and-a-half thousand.
the real winner in the “go to” place for island news is the site that gets…
Which ever site – IE/IWCP/OBS etc gets the most page views/unique visits by individuals dictates the position the site holds in the minds of islanders, as to who is seen as the islands authority for “truth in an instant”
Whi reads papers now ??? be the size of sticky note soon..
Those with the ability to read long sentences.
I find it basic and droll. It used to be the go to paper in the old days after the Weekly Post went AWOL.
Island Echo is more charismatic and colourful, better photos, better written, better stories, more stories and is much more entertaining and interesting.
I’m not surprised it’s lost it’s appeal poor story telling news is just about things people have done wrong , nothing about community upbeat news from parish it’s got smaller thiner and costs more it’s no longer local because it’s printed overseas, it had a brilliant printing press on Riverway poorly managed over the years but digital viewing hasn’t helped either, running a paper has got to be fast changing to keep sales going and unfortunately if it doesn’t keep up it will be lost but it was a brilliant local paper hopefully someone will wake up in editorial and get back on track time to be dynamic.
I refused to buy any further copies of the County Press many years ago after all I kept seeing was advertising. I also have deleted their on-line website after trying to charge for me to read it, no chance sunshine. Plus I didn’t like the fact they tried to force you to accept some of the cookies, when I sourced them down they were all American spamming and phishing and tracking cookies. RIP County Press.
It’s not worth the money and mr Toogood has taken all your customer!
Because it’s all advertising, second hand news and not an island company anymore! Was good in its day but surprised to read it’s not 50 pence anymore, even the online version is rubbish.
Online news is the way forward, but I tend to jump to the comments section and see which characters are making their usual idiotic comments and decide to give it a miss again. It’s time the IE weeded out these ‘people’ who exist on the oxygen generated through their keyboard and who thrive on being ‘different’. You know who they are IE and I am sure they will now respond to what they think is clickbait. That being the case, now rearrange the words, Black, Kettle, Pot (if that helps out).
You sound and likely are a pompous twit. Idiotic comments indeed. Everyone has a right to have their say, and what makes you think you are so right that you want others banned?
Clear off to Russia or China, then you could be the Editor of their national papers and send the ‘idiots’ to salt mines.
As it is, go back to the job centre where you belong.
I stopped buying it when it no longer supported local independent journalism by selling out to Newsquest which owns HUNDREDS of ‘local’ papers. The format is the same…sensationalism with a Tory bent; indeed the CEO (of both Newsquest AND Gannett is Henry Faure Walker….a Tory who lobbies MPs for permission to certain reporting styles and access. That’ll be a quid pro quo arrangement then….
not surprised, I thought it was isle of wight county press but we get news from everywhere
tbf the county press isn’t great these days, but surely absolutely everyone is losing their PRINT readership now everything is immediately available online
County press 10 years ago was so big you had to lay it on the floor just to read it, page after page of jobs and entertainment.
Theres nothing left on the island, no night clubs, ice rink, and prob only 10% of the jobs available.
So its quarter of the size for triple the price.
Plus you hear of crimes before they even hit the papers with local gossips and the ease of social media etc
IWCC used to be my go-to source for local news but I haven’t read the physical paper or the website since Newsquest took it over and replaced the up to date local news with articles which were either nothing to do with the Isle of Wight, years old, or often both.
I didn’t know the IWCC gave out news.?
Times change, in the old days they just repaired the roads and emptied your bins.
I miss the Weekly Post.
I hope it doesn’t disappear completely ‘cos I’ll have nothing to cut up and hang in mi outside lavatory.
Dr Robert Seely MBE MP can help you there: he’s kindly sent everybody some material in the post for exactly that function!
When it was full off interesting articles,local advertising it was worth reading,but now £1.30 for a paper getting smaller and 80% nationwide advertising it’s not worth paying for
To be fair, ‘banging out’ was a ‘ceremony’ that all Printing Apprentices went through on completion of their Indentureship and on becoming a Journeyman. It refers to ‘Galleys’ being ‘banged’ on the cast iron stones.
It is nothing to do with rivals or prices, it’s the internet. Stories appear on the IWCP site days before the identical story appears in print. Even the reactive Daily Mail readers on this inferior site get their news days before the paper comes out, even if they wish every story was about migrants and benefit scroungers.
The decline started years ago when they stopped printing it on the island
Dear Island Echo, of course the CP print circulation is down as is every other print publication. However, if you are going to insinuate the CP has lost readership to the Echo (which you are) then please publish total readership i.e.online + printed, of your respective publications. Anything less is just an insult to both publications. And I read both.
Bet your loving this!!!
The county press doesn’t have a savage comment section. I come here for the comment sewage
I bet TG is pulling himself senseless over these adulatory comments about the illiterate IE.