Community media stands firm amidst print media carnage

While Taxi Times and PE Express may not be top of mind for most media and PR agencies, they have a combined circulation of 266,000, which dwarfs most of their more illustrious mainstream counterparts. Together, they lead a sector that remains buoyant, and actually showed marginal growth in the first quarter of 2021, says Novus Group director Joe Hamman.

“The number of print publications continues to decrease, in spite of a return from certain titles, and the re-addition of some business, motoring and lifestyle supplements. This underlines the ongoing trend of the broader print sector consolidating and increasingly transitioning to digital channels. This is already having significant ramifications for the way that we approach marketing, advertising and PR going forward,” said Hamman.

Even the best-selling daily newspaper for the first quarter of 2021, Daily Sun, saw sales drop by nearly 11% from the previous quarter, to 51,342. Media24 dailies saw a slight quarter-on-quarter decline at Beeld, Burger and Son.

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Among the weekend newspapers, Arena's Sunday Times remains the best-selling weekend publication for the first quarter of 2021, increasing sales by just over 3% to 115,209, while City Press recorded the highest decline of 7.72% to fall below 27,000 copies a week.

Huisgenoot remains by far the most popular consumer publication in South Africa, which sells 140,000 copies a week, while the leading business consumer magazine is Business Brief, with a circulation staying stable at around 52,000. The magazine sector has been among the hardest hit in recent months, with numerous titles closing or changing their frequency.

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“What the report shows is that more than ever, PR practitioners and agencies require a carefully planned and well-executed strategy, underpinned by a deep understanding of the audiences they want to reach. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to digital success, and media analytics are increasingly becoming a key tool in shaping content and channel strategy,” said Hamman.

The South African Print Media Landscape report is available for download.