Big circulation fall after merger

The merger of Wellington's Dominion and Evening Post newspapers in July wiped 5 per cent from total sales of metropolitan newspapers in the six months to September, compared with the same period a year earlier.

The New Zealand Herald ran against the trend, recording a 0.1 per cent increase in daily circulation to 211,246 from 211,117 a year ago, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations figures released today.

That gave the newspaper 47 per cent of the 447,615 total circulation of metropolitan newspapers. The Herald's figures were also an increase on the six months to March, when it had a circulation of 210,841.

In the six months to September 2001, the Dominion and the Evening Post recorded circulation figures of 68,571 and 56,143, respectively. The new creation, the Dominion Post, had a circulation of 101,511 in the latest period, a loss of more than 23,000 on the previous combined figure.

The Otago Daily Times also recorded an increase of 0.6 per cent in circulation, from 43,822 last year to 44,099 this year, and the Christchurch Press dropped from 91,024 to 90,759.

The Sunday Star-Times appeared to cannibalise the Sunday News, rising from 200,045 to 205,916 over the year, while its stablemate slumped from 115,419 to 113,422.

In the provincials, Hawke's Bay Today fell from 31,824 to 30,912, the Southland Times fell from 30,692 to 29,830 and the Waikato Times rose from 41,909 to 41,983.