THE Irish News was officially the best-performing regional daily newspaper title in the UK in the second half of 2017 based solely on retail sales, according to an analysis by media industry website Hold The Front Page.
The official ABC figures published earlier this month showed the Wigan Post and The Scotsman as the only daily titles to increase circulation in the period July to December 2017, both aided by a significant number of free copies.
But when bulk sales and free copies are removed from from the equation, the HTFP data shows Irish News topping the league table of more than 70 UK titles.
Although the Irish News retail sale figure of 33,906 was down 4 per cent on the equivalent figure in 2016, it still represented the best sales performance by any UK title in the six-month period.
HTFP says: "While the official figures, published by ABC on March 1 included free copies and multiple paid-for copies – known in the trade as bulks – our analysis excluded these from both the 2016 and 2017 figures.
"The year-on-year percentage comparisons between the two therefore provide a more accurate reflection of actual sales performance in the second half of 2017, as opposed to the official statistics which measure total circulation."
Under the HTFP measurements, the Belfast Telegraph retail sale fell 10.11 per cent to 27,008 while the News Letter dropped by 11.58 per cent to 13,585.
Irish News editor Noel Doran said: “It is a considerable achievement for a family-owned title like ours to emerge as the best performer in what remains a very competitive UK regional daily market in terms of retail sales.
“We are setting out to build on a year in which we increased our circulation in the first six months and again managed to set the standard in the second half, so we are grateful to HTFP for producing such a comprehensive and credible assessment of the overall position.”
The sales figures come after a survey by YouGov, commissioned by Local Media Works, showed that newspapers like the Irish News remain by far the most trusted source for local news and information, way ahead of search engines and social media, according to new research.
The YouGov study is seen as proving yet more compelling evidence of a resurgence of trust in traditional media outlets as the public become increasingly aware of the dangers associated with social platforms and fake news.
