The local newspaper market showed growth of more than six percent last year, buoyed by big stories like Nelson Mandela’s death and Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial.<\/p>\n
This is according to PwC’s “Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2014-2018” report.<\/p>\n
“High-profile news stories such as the trial of paralympian Oscar Pistorius and the death of former president Nelson Mandela resulted in a spike in total newspaper circulation in the fourth quarter of 2013.<\/p>\n
“Consumers chose print newspapers as a key source of information and reflection,” the report stated.<\/p>\n
The country’s total newspaper publishing market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2 percent last year, generating almost R11bn in revenue.<\/p>\n
This was up from R10.3bn in 2012, according to the report.<\/p>\n
Most of the growth came from advertising, which rose to R8.2bn last year from R7.7bn the year before. Print still accounted for nearly 98 percent of the total.<\/p>\n
Advertising revenue was expected to grow from R8.2 million in 2013 to R11b in 2018. This was a CAGR of six percent.<\/p>\n
Revenues for digital remained low, however, a growing number of titles had created paywalls to maximise revenue from digital content.<\/p>\n
The report presented annual historical data for 2009-2013 and annual forecasts for 2014-2018 in 12 entertainment and media segments.<\/p>\n
“Improving education, consumer spending power and an increasing thirst for ‘need-to-know’ news are driving the steadily growing demand for newspapers, as well as providing encouragement for investment in new advertising campaigns,” PwC’s entertainment and media leader Vicki Myburgh said.<\/p>\n
“With digital technology still out of reach for the majority of the population even in urban areas, print newspapers fill the time for commuters using public transport.”<\/p>\n
She said this led to small growth in tabloid newspapers’ circulation.<\/p>\n
Myburgh said the low level of broadband in South Africa meant that print publishers were less affected by digital.<\/p>\n
“For many consumers, print remains the first news medium, which will ensure that print revenue will grow for years to come.”<\/p>\n
She said newspaper revenue would also benefit from the country’s expanding and urbanising economy.<\/p>\n
“This expansion will provide a boost to the newspaper publishing market as reaching rural audiences remains a challenge, both in terms of the distances involved in getting the newspapers to the areas and finding outlets to sell the newspapers.”<\/p>\n
Among the biggest change driver for the industry were tablets and mobile devices.<\/p>\n
Cost-cuts and restructuring of newsrooms, often implemented to maintain profit margins, had forced publishers to “right-size” their businesses for new digital ways of working.<\/p>\n
According to the report, cuts could only go so far before quality levels started to fall to a point where consumers could find the same content for free elsewhere on the internet.<\/p>\n
Print would continue to dominate revenues in the near term, but the shift to digital would have an impact.<\/p>\n
Newspapers would need to incorporate social media for picking up and breaking news if they were to remain relevant and use the digital\/print coverage for features, analytical insights and long-term investigations.<\/p>\n
Newspapers appear at media hearing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The rise of the Internet in Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n