UK cover prices up 12% in last year | CMA investigating Google search | London Live closes
Plus we have the December ranking of the top English-language news sites in the world and The Independent names a new UK editor
Good morning and welcome to your daily Press Gazette media briefing on Tuesday 14 January.
Newspapers must be the only products in the UK that respond to declining demand by raising the cover price and reducing the quality of the product.
But that is the situation the industry finds itself in.
Today we provide a new roundup of the cover prices of every national newspaper in the UK and find they are rising at roughly quadruple the rate of inflation.
If the current rate of price and circulation change were to continue (which surely cannot happen) the Daily Mirror would cost £11.44 a copy in 2035 and have a circulation of around 40,000.
We have a comprehensive roundup for newspaper cover prices over the last decade. Look out for a similar exercise detailing paywalled website subscription prices later this week.
Today we also have the latest top 50 ranking of English-language news websites by number of visits (per Similarweb). The New York Times, BBC and CNN all managed to post year-on-year growth in December while Fox News, Daily Mail and The Sun were among those experiencing sharp declines.
There was another milestone in the decline of the UK's local TV network as London Live announced its closure.
Local TV began life in 2011 as a plan to boost local journalism by creating 50 or more new channels broadcasting ultra-local content on Freeview.
Sadly the economics of the new network has not panned out and most of the initial local TV franchisees are no longer in business.
David Montgomery's Local TV network now operates in eight UK regions and having bought London Live will presumably be launching soon in the capital also. The various surviving local TV channels mainly fill their schedules with cheap re-runs with just a few hours of local content per day.
And there is good news from the CMA which has begun the process of assessing Google's search market impact under the new digital market competition regime. This is the first stage in giving the tech giant "strategic market status" and then being subjected to the new Digital Markets Unit, which will be tasked with ensuring it trades on "fair and reasonable terms".
Fingers crossed those terms will include not stealing everyone's content without permission for use in its AI Overviews product.
On Press Gazette
Newsflation: UK cover prices up by 12% in past year
For comparison, consumer price inflation in the UK was at 3.5% in the year to November with the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages up 2%. Inflation was no higher than 4% throughout 2024.
Top 50 news websites in the world: December sees traffic dip post US election
Overall 36 of the top 50 sites in the world saw fewer visits in December than in November. The picture was more mixed when compared against December 2023, however, with 23 of the top 50 gaining traffic year-on-year.
CMA to investigate Google search dominance and impact on news publishers
The investigation must be completed within nine months, with a decision published by 13 October.
London Live closes after ten years as broadcasting licence to change hands
Deputy head of news and presenter James Dickman said: “It’s not news to anyone that local news reporting is on life support. The need for it in a modern world, for better or for worse, seems more and more by the day to be surplus to requirements. I believe it is for the worse.”
The Independent names Chloe Hubbard as UK editor
The Independent said in a release that she will oversee the UK newsroom amid its mission “to be the world’s most trusted, biggest and fastest growing news title”.
News in brief
Liz Truss has claimed "left wing" titles — which she said include The Times, Guardian, BBC and FT — "do not like free speech, free market policies, and they don’t like the status quo in this country being challenged". She said the media needs to be "fixed", but did not specify how. (The Guardian)
Washington Post columnist Jen Rubin has left the title to launch a Substack start-up called The Contrarian with the tagline "Not owned by anybody", a reference to Jeff Bezos' ownership of the Post. It will cost $7 per month for full access. (CNN)
Politico UK editor Jack Blanchard is moving to Washington DC to become managing editor and author of its flagship Playbook newsletter, bringing "fresh energy and perspective". (Politico)
The Los Angeles Times says its web traffic during the city's fires has been up 800% over the prior 30-day average and new subscriptions have been up 259%, despite the paper dropping its paywall for stories about the fire. (Nieman Lab)
Also on Press Gazette:
Mirror journalists given individual online page-view targets
Top 50 news websites in the US: New York Times extends its lead
Climate change scepticism almost extinct from UK national press
2025 journalism job cuts tracked: Washington Post, Huffpost and Vox layoffs start year
News media trends for 2025: AI threats, Google search decline and subs slowdown
Bauer Media Group pays $625m for outdoor advertising business
The UK’s biggest news media companies: New top 50 ranking by revenue
Latest podcast
Podcast 81: AI tipping point in 2025: What publishers need to know
Former digital development director of The Sun Paul Hood has just quit his job to study generative AI full time.
He explained why AI in the media is set to reach a tipping point in 2025 and start to fundamentally change the business. He also reveals some of the practical steps publishers should take to ensure they can capitalise on the opportunities AI presents and avoid some major pitfalls.