article from ft (july 2016)3 Aug 2016 09:00
July 8, 2016
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Johnston Press says readership of the i newspaper has surged to record levels since the company bought it in April.
Johnston said last week’s sales figures showed circulation “consistently over 300,000, peaking at 319,000 on Friday 29 June.” It said this rate of increase “is ahead of management’s expectations”.
The i’s advertising revenue for last week also climbed to the highest levels seen since the acquisition.
Johnston said:
These figures show a further increase from the week of the Referendum, indicating a continued desire for impartial and informative journalism, highlighting the vital role that newspapers play around major milestones for the country.
The inews.co.uk website also notched up some record traffic last week, as page views topped 1m for the first time since its April launch with a robust 1.65m.
Johnston said:
Sunday 26 June saw the highest number of page views in a day at 434,431. Since the website was only launched 10 weeks ago on April 14, management are encouraged by this strong start.
It added:
Notwithstanding the Referendum, which has evidently been beneficial for newspaper groups in general, i’s circulation and readership has steadily increased under the ownership of Johnston Press and editorship of Oliver Duff. By comparison, during the month immediately prior to the acquisition, i had an average audited circulation of 270,182 (Source: ABC March 2016).