The Blackpool Gazette is claiming that Blackpool Football Club’s first season in the Premier League has provided it with a boost to both web and print.
According to the Newspaper Society, the paper has seen a surge in traffic to its website which has increased page views to 4.5m from 2.25m (I’m assuming this is a month, the NS doesn’t specify) in the last four weeks.
In addition, the NS claims the paper increased sales by three per cent on the Monday after Blackpool’s 4-0 victory over Wigan with circulation also rising on match days.
Good news indeed particularly against a backdrop of decline in web and print readers. Figures released yesterday by the ABC revealed that blackpoolgazette.co.uk attracted an average of 16,349 users each day during the first-half of the year (before the club had played any Premier League games) – a year-on-year dip of 3.6 per cent.
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The ABC also revealed print figures which showed that during the first six months of the year the Johnston Press-owned Gazette averaged a circulation of 24,236 each day – a drop of 6.9 per cent year on year.
This sales drop coincided with strained relations between the editorial staff and management over the introduction of the Atex content system which eventually led to industrial action.
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