That, combined with other data compiled by the NFRN, is being used in support of the Federation’s supplementary submission to the Office of Fair Trading in which the NFRN is urging the OFT to undertake another short review of the Newspaper and Magazine Industry.
Some of the facts revealed by the HIM survey are:
• 70% of the UK sample population buy a newspaper at least once a week.
• The most common place consumers buy newspapers is in newsagents (59%).
• Almost 60% of newspaper purchasers say they are reading fewer “paid for” newspapers than a year ago. 20% are doing this to save money.
• 76% of newspaper readers and 68% of magazine readers think the cover price is a fixed price that they must pay rather than a recommended retail price. Very few consumers have experienced price competition.
• 43% of newspaper readers believe that newspapers are generally more expensive than a year ago and a worrying 59% have considered not purchasing due to price.
• Without a cover price 18% of consumers think there would be more retailer promotions and 27% think there would be more competition between newspapers and magazines.
• 25% of consumers think “it would be good if retailers started to offer promotions on newspapers and magazines like they do on other products sold in food and retail stores”.
Additional studies undertaken by the NFRN track prices changes for weekly and monthly magazines and national and regional newspapers over the past few years, laying lie, says the NFRN, to the popular perception that consumers benefit from having publishers in control of cover prices. That is simply not true, the NFRN insists.
Says NFRN Chief Executive Paul Baxter (pictured): “Having been granted an extension by the OFT in order to gather more information, we believe we have used the additional time fruitfully. The evidence gleaned in the HIM market research is undeniable and, in our view, provides an overwhelming rationale why the OFT should prioritise a further short review of the news industry, which we expect would lead to a referral to the Competition Commission for a full market investigation.”
