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According to Audit Bureau of Circulation data, combined digital sales of Fairfax Media's metro mastheads, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, increased by 86.6 per cent year on year.
The Age and The SMH launched compact weekday editions in March and recorded a rise in print sales that month. The mastheads will be introducing metered access to their digital news services around midyear.
Print circulation of Fairfax Media's metro mastheads declined for the quarter as the publisher took steps to cut unprofitable circulation.
The Age weekday sales were down 12.6 per cent to 144,277, its Saturday edition was down 8.9 per cent to 219,696, and The Sunday Age was down 13.6 per cent to 178,141.
Weekday sales of The SMH fell 18.2 per cent compared with the previous March quarter to 148,037, while the Saturday edition was down 13.6 per cent to 253,240. Sales of its Sunday paper, the Sun Herald, were down 24.4 per cent to 290,174.
News Corp's The Australian had a weekday sales decline of 6.6 per cent to 119,490, while its weekend edition was down 8.9 per cent to 264,547.
Weekday editions of the Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph recorded near double-digit sales declines, while weekend editions recorded declines in the 7.1 to 8.2 per cent range.
The weekend edition of The Australian Financial Review defied the trend, increasing sales by 18.2 per cent to 81,606, while weekday sales declined 8 per cent to 64,861.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Audit Bureau of Circulation data showed robust growth in paid digital editions for the March quarter while print circulation continued to decline across major national and metro mastheads.
Combined paid digital sales for Fairfax Media’s metro mastheads, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, increased by 86.6% year‑on‑year for the March quarter.
Yes — The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald launched compact weekday editions in March and recorded a rise in print sales that month, according to the article.
Yes — the article states The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald will be introducing metered access to their digital news services around midyear.
For the quarter, The Age weekday sales fell 12.6% to 144,277, Saturday to 219,696 (down 8.9%) and The Sunday Age to 178,141 (down 13.6%). The Sydney Morning Herald weekday sales fell 18.2% to 148,037, Saturday to 253,240 (down 13.6%) and the Sun Herald to 290,174 (down 24.4%).
The Australian’s weekday sales declined 6.6% to 119,490 and its weekend edition fell 8.9% to 264,547. The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph recorded near double‑digit weekday sales declines, with their weekend editions down in the 7.1% to 8.2% range.
Yes — the weekend edition of The Australian Financial Review increased sales by 18.2% to 81,606, although its weekday sales declined 8% to 64,861.
Investors should note the strong growth in paid digital editions (notably Fairfax’s 86.6% rise), ongoing print circulation declines, publishers cutting unprofitable print circulation and experimenting with products (compact editions) and business models (introducing metered digital access). These trends reflect a structural shift in how newspapers are generating paid readership.
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