Belinda Weston, Jeanene Duncan, Mardi Borg, Sue Fitzgerald, Tony Kendall, Julia Driscoll, Tina Barlow.
Regional and rural publisher ACM today announced the launch of 14 weekend newspapers.
They serve Goulburn, Bega Valley, Port Macquarie, Foster and Tuncurry, Batemans Bay, Bowral, Armidale, Griffith, Leeton, Mudgee, Nowra, Taree, Kempsey and Lithgow.
“Our ‘Weekend Collection’ provides an indulgent, lean-in weekend read in print when more people have the desire and time for their printed newspaper," said ACM national sales director Sam Westaway.
“Australians spend three times longer reading weekend newspapers than weekday newspapers^ - which presents a deeply engaged audience for advertisers.
"This change increases our weekend reach by more than 20% and that's before you consider that across the ACM network of sister regional publications, weekend newspapers attract an average of 23%^ more readers than the equivalent weekday title.”
ACM managing director Tony Kendall said the group is changing the way it brings readers the news in print.
"Our commitment to keeping our audiences, advertisers and communities strong, informed and connected will not change," he said.
"Offering better solutions for advertisers and readers, we are creating a more sustainable model to support local journalism and forging new ground in Australian news publishing.
“As the only major news organisation that puts regional first, we are passionate about telling the stories that matter and delivering the advertising solutions that achieve results for local businesses and other commercial customers.”
The move follows the introduction of a similar model across ACM’s Central Western NSW mastheads in August last year, which resulted in double-digit growth across circulation sales, subscriptions and advertiser demand.
ACM data revealed the model had boosted weekend newspaper sales by 19.3%, increased subscriber acquisition by +16.9% and resulted in an average 21% increase in the number of advertisers booking into the three weekend papers*.
The 14 mastheads now offering weekend newspapers are Batemans Bay Post, Bega District News, Goulburn Post, Great Lakes Advocate, Lithgow Mercury, Manning River Times, Mudgee Guardian, Port Macquarie News, Southern Highland News, South Coast Register, The Area News, The Armidale Express, The Leeton Irrigator and The Macleay Argus. The new editions commenced publishing in February.
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