The Mail & Guardian has kept its 246 000 weekly readers despite the difficult media market conditions of the past six months — and they are the best educated readership of all weekly and daily newspapers in South Africa.
According to the All Media Product Survey (AMPS), the M&G is now read by one in every 10 South African university graduates.
Released last Friday, AMPS 2002A shows our readership has remained stable and compares favourably with other quality publications such as Business Day, with a current readership of 100 000 (down 16 000).
AMPS2002A confirmed that the M&G has the most educated readership of all major weekly and daily newspapers in South Africa, with 46,34% of our readers having completed post-matric studies. Business Day sports the second highest educated audience with 42% of readers in possession of post-matric qualifications. University graduates currently make up just over 25% of the M&G‘s total readership.
Another area that the M&G has been watching with particular interest is the Living Standard Measurement (LSM) of our readership. The LSM measures affluence without discriminating on grounds such as race. AMPS 2002A shows more M&G readers moving into the upper LSM groups, with 160 000 (65%) readers now falling into the top four LSM groups.
Reacting to AMPS 2002 the M&G chairperson and CEO Trevor Ncube said this data confirmed that the weekly was the ideal platform for advertisers seeking a quality market. He said the M&G was about to commission its own market survey to be audited by independent outsiders so as to better serve readers and the advertisers. “Its vital for us to understand who reads us, why they read us and why some people do not read us at all. All this information will feed into our plans to strategically reposition ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities and challenges that a new South Africa offers us.”
This week also saw the release of circulation figures by the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the period January to June 2002. It showed that the M&G‘s current circulation is 38 352, a decline of 8,13% from the preceding six-month period. Despite the decrease the current circulation figure is the third highest in the newspaper’s history.
Ncube said the fall in circulation was a response to a 40% increase in the price of the newspaper over the past 12 months. “We have lost some readers at the lower end of the market, but our grip on the upper end remains firm. It is there — at the upper end — that we will be growing our circulation and readership,” he added.
Price increase
The purchase price of the Mail & Guardian will rise to R7,80 from Friday September 6. The increase has been necessitated by rising input costs. The price of a year’s subscription will rise from the same date to R320 from the current R280.
“It’s never pleasant to increase the cover price. But this is a more realistic measure of what it costs to produce Africa’s best read,” said M&G editor Howard Barrell.