View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Data
  2. Audience Data
January 21, 2016updated 23 Aug 2022 7:19pm

Website ABCs, December 2015: Sun website traffic slips in first month after scrapping of paywall

By Dominic Ponsford

The Sun website failed to make up much lost ground in December in its first complete month since dropping its paywall.

In common with nearly all other UK newspaper websites audited by ABC, it saw a drop in traffic from November – when all UK news website traffic was boosted by coverage of the Paris terror attacks. The Sun did however achieve the lowest month-on-month drop off the national sites, dropping 5.6 per cent.

It remains in seventh place behind The Independent and Mirror. Press Gazette understands that the month-on-month drop for The Sun was partly due to certain apps being turned off and a seasonal lull in use of its Dream Team fantasy football site.

The Sun also this week dropped its stand-alone politics website Sun Nation. The light-hearted site was launched in March this year, ahead of the UK general election, and at that time was one of the few elements of the site which lay outside the paywall. All Sun politics coverage will now sit on the main site.

Mail Online remains by far the most popular UK newspaper website, attracting an average of 13.2m unique daily browsers across different devices in December.

The fastest growing national newspaper website in December was the Express, up 44.6 per cent year on year.

UK newspaper website ABC traffic figures for December 2015

Content from our partners
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it
Impress: Regulation, arbitration and complaints resolution
Title Average daily unique users to website, December 2015 Month-on-month % change Year-on-year % change
MailOnline 13,182,486 -9.9 7.67
theguardian.com 7,847,537 -15.4 33.01
Trinity Mirror Group – Digital 5,751,104 -13.63 22.42
Telegraph 4,038,417 -19.59 16.9
Mirror Group Nationals 3,994,246 -15.79 13.82
The Independent 2,796,267 -14.68 33.33
The Sun 1,525,662 -5.63 N/A
Metro 1,117,256 -22.96 -5.29
express.co.uk 1,065,378 -18.72 44.62
dailystar.co.uk 594,230 -8.8 18.84
Manchester Evening News 558,095 -4.62 34.54
Evening Standard 440,299 -15.28 61.59
Liverpool Echo 422,360 -10.01 59.57
Wales Online 258,964 -17.78 45.17
Newcastle Live 203,436 -1.14 30.55
Birmingham Mail 196,824 -11.69 34.96
Teesside Evening Gazette 101,305 -1.53 40.25
Daily Post (Wales) 77,177 1.26 82.27
Coventry Telegraph 56,067 -9.41 29.13
Huddersfield Daily Examiner 52,772 -2.38 35.95
Visiter.co.uk 12,772 24.75 N/A

 

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network