You’ll miss it when its gone
Since the 1960s the Shropshire Star has brought the news to people of Telford, but the shrinking circulation is a worry.
The latest figures from ABC who measure the circulation numbers of regional and national papers are alarming for the whole industry, but for the Shropshire Star, a 17% drop in the first half of 2024 (incredibly, the national average) to around 8,000 a day is a sign of the times.
National World purchased the company which owned the paper along with it’s sister title Express & Star, in September 2023, taking them out of family ownership. Since then, the paper has introduced a paywall to access much of the online content as it attempts to grow subscriptions as a revenue stream.
It’s a long time since Thursdays were full of job adverts, Fridays car ads, and Saturday centre section was pages and pages of properties for sale. All now a provide a fraction of the revenue they once did, since Indeed, Autotrader and Rightmove, moved into the space.
Not paying for news has become a habit for consumers, along with moaning about the number of ads when the content is free at the point of delivery. The jewel in the crown of the Star, is its court reporting. Expensive to produce and yet vitally important. The question is – will paying subscribers grow quickly enough to pay the bills before paper copies become unviable?
