The Advertiser: Nation's worst performing major paper

[AtD]

We all knew it!

From today's AFR, p28. The Advertiser is the only weekday paper to decline in readership, and by a massive 7.0%. The next worst performing was the West Australian, which increased readership by 0.2%, and the best was The Australian, which increased by 11.5%. The Saturday Advertiser's readership fell 6.6%, followed by the West Australian with a fall of 4.6%.

[AtD]

The above figures are for the December Quarter only, by the way.

[Wayno]

i never buy the Tiser - such a rag.

[AG]

Some of those other newspapers that have come onto the market in the past few years must be really snapping up a fair bit of market share. The Australian is by far the most superior News Ltd paper of the lot, and the 'Tiser is basically written for simpletons.

[SRW]

We desperately need an alternate daily.

[Wayno]

i wonder if this trend reflects a changing demographic in Adelaide? is there a growing desire for higher quality journalism?

[JamesXander]

The Advertiser doesn't seem like a Newspaper. It seems more like a shitty free magazine.


Crappy articles, and to be honest they always run crap front pages. Always. Even thought people shouldn't judge a book by its cover, people do.

[frank1]

Not only are the articles crappy, but when they are about Adelaide, they are always negative. People (well myself anyway) don't like reading negative comments about the city they live in. When there is an event, city development,etc the tiser never writes positive articles.

[Professor]

I am please that the advertiser is failing. It is an awful publication that reflects really badly on Adelaide and on SA. In years gone by the Advertiser was a broadshhet, like the Australian, and came out in the morning. A second daily, the News, came out in the afternoon and was a tabloid, like the Advertiser is now. They reckon that the News was designed to be read in 20 minutes, on a train home. ie simple articles, no depth, just sensational and supposedly funny headlines, then when the train arrived at the station, the News could be thrown away.

What has happened over the years is that the Adevertiser has morphed into the News, to become a trashy rag. Anyway, the power is with the consumers. Buy something else. Problem is that Murdock and Packer own most of everything so not a lot of choice around. The Melbourne Age is pretty good to buy on the weekend.

[Bulldozer]

The Advertiser doesn't seem like a Newspaper. It seems more like a shitty free magazine.

Crappy articles, and to be honest they always run crap front pages. Always. Even thought people shouldn't judge a book by its cover, people do.

I don't know if you have "mx" in Adelaide nowadays, but News Ltd brought it to Brisbane last year. It's a freebie given away to commuters every day and is pretty much on par with the Sunday Mail: Full of trashy celebrity tabloid crap.

If circulation of The Advertiser continues to decline then old Rupert is bound to make a big shakeup. Hopefully to get some decent reporters and editors in, but seeing as we're talking about News Ltd. I highly doubt they'd go for quality.

[Will409]

If the Murdoch Times/NIMBY Newsletter does eventually go out of print for falling circulation, I for one won't be shedding a tear.

[AtD]

I don't know if you have "mx" in Adelaide nowadays, but News Ltd brought it to Brisbane last year. It's a freebie given away to commuters every day and is pretty much on par with the Sunday Mail: Full of trashy celebrity tabloid crap.

If circulation of The Advertiser continues to decline then old Rupert is bound to make a big shakeup. Hopefully to get some decent reporters and editors in, but seeing as we're talking about News Ltd. I highly doubt they'd go for quality.

Comparing MX to the Sunday Mail is an insult to the Sunday Mail, as surprising as it sounds. I remember the Melbourne version was mostly stuff pulled off the Internet mixed in with the standard complaints about traffic and taxes.

For those who don't know, MX is like The City Messenger except daily and with no substance.

[Hoops]

Reasons why I believe the Advertiser still even exists:

[*]Lack of other dailys.
[*]The Australian isn't stocked in enough locations/ In visible locations.
[*]The Quantities even supplied to outlets is definately fewer then the advertiser leading to more stock outs.
IE. If you stock the Advertiser expecting 1% increase on last week you've scored another 10+ papers
Do the same with the Australian and you gain another 1 paper...
[*]People stuck in a routine. Doing the same thing they've done for the last year.
[*]Australian being Broadsheet (Many are opposed to this , Myself included. As generally the places in which I read it I don't have the room to read it easily.

[Omicron]

Reasons why I believe the Advertiser still even exists:

[*]Lack of other dailys.
[*]The Australian isn't stocked in enough locations/ In visible locations.
[*]The Quantities even supplied to outlets is definately fewer then the advertiser leading to more stock outs.
IE. If you stock the Advertiser expecting 1% increase on last week you've scored another 10+ papers
Do the same with the Australian and you gain another 1 paper...
[*]People stuck in a routine. Doing the same thing they've done for the last year.
[*]Australian being Broadsheet (Many are opposed to this , Myself included. As generally the places in which I read it I don't have the room to read it easily.

Oh, I agree with your last point in particular! Broadsheet newspapers are so frustrating, especially as a person who isn't used to them. It's a pity, because I like reading the Australian or the Age, but for the life of me I cannot find a way to eat lunch at a small table in a food court with a broadsheet without spilling pages everywhere, or taking up twice the room.

[SRW]

Oh, I agree with your last point in particular! Broadsheet newspapers are so frustrating, especially as a person who isn't used to them. It's a pity, because I like reading the Australian or the Age, but for the life of me I cannot find a way to eat lunch at a small table in a food court with a broadsheet without spilling pages everywhere, or taking up twice the room.

I actually find broadsheets easier to read because, once you've got the folding method down-pat (which, admittedly, can seem an art form to those used to tabloids), they stay together neatly.