ABC Regional Newspapers Online: Trinity still top of the pile

The latest ABC release for the regional press continues to show online usage increasing for the regional networks. The top network is still Trinity Mirror with over nine million monthly unique browsers. It took the top spot from Johnston last year after Trinity added the Manchester Evening News to its network.

The online regional networks continue to grow with an average growth rate of 12.5%. The smaller networks (Midland News, Iliffe and Kent Online) have turned in good percentage increases – albeit from a lower base – and the big three networks (Newsquest, Johnston and Trinity) saw similar growth rates of between 12% and 14%. The anomaly seems to be Northcliffe Digital, which only saw a 5.4% increase in daily unique browsers.

Daily Unique Browsers: YoY growth

The rankings are similar for monthly unique browsers – other than Newsquest slips past Johnston for second place. Again the figure that stands out is the 19.7% growth rate attributable to Northcliffe. It stands out when compared to its daily unique increase of only 5.4%.  The barometer for a website is the daily unique figure as it highlights a propensity for a more engaged audience. Northcliffe is the only network to show this large disparity between growth in daily uniques versus monthly.

More return visitors will naturally increase the daily unique browsers, while depressing the monthly unique browsers. Conversely most new traffic will have lower daily unique browser number and a higher monthly value.  This ratio will give you a rough idea as to how sticky a site is – or in Northcliffe’s case, how unstuck, unsticky, dry… what’s the opposite of sticky?

Monthly Unique Browsers: YoY growth