2. We relaunched The Citizen in August 2013, with a new logo, as well as a clean, focused
design. Mario Garcia was commissioned to facilitate the redesign.
One of our objectives was to increase our female readership and this was accomplished by
focusing on the City lifestyle supplement, giving it a more magazine-like feel. Female
readership has increased from 35% in the AMPS Jul 2012-Jun 2013 survey to 41% in the Jul
2013-Jun 2014 survey.
Since our relaunch in August 2013, our circulation has stabilised. The publisher has cut
bulk copies within acceptable levels. Year on year (Oct-Dec), apart from The Sowetan, The
Citizen has experienced the least decline of 5.42% (3 187 copies).
The Citizen has a very competitive cost per thousand of R2.97, compared to our
immediate competitors. Only Daily Sun has a lower cost per thousand.
THE CITIZEN TURN’S A PAGE
Source: AMPS 2014 BA /ABC Oct- Dec 2014
3. On 22 July 2014, The Citizen launched a new soccer supplement titled Phakaaathi, which
is published on Tuesdays in both print and digital format. Phakaaathi has reached 82 160
unique visitors in January 2015.
We were very fortunate to appoint Jonty Mark as Phakaaathi editor. Jonty is a well-known
professional sports writer, specialising in soccer. He has provided coverage of the Fifa Soccer
World Cup 2010, and was the Group Football Writer at Independent Newspapers before
joining The Citizen.
Phakaaathi has grown it’s online audience (unique visitors) by 93% from December 2014
(42 636) to January 2015 (82 160).
The Citizen boasts a stable circulation, declining only 2.1% in the third quarter of 2014
compared to The Star’s circulation, which declined by 11.7% in the same period. The Citizen
further declined by 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
THE CITIZEN TURN’S A PAGE
Source: AMPS 2014 BA /ABC Oct- Dec 2014
4. Our newspaper has the highest single copy sales compared to other Gauteng dailies, with
the exception of Sowetan and Daily Sun. The Citizen 40 394, The Star 38 231, Beeld 28 989,
Pretoria News 8 598.
Online traffic increased significantly. Our website, www.citizen.co.za is the tenth most
visited news site in South Africa according to Effective Measure January 2015. The website
reached 1 885 852 page views and 757 426 unique visitors in December 2014 (Google
Analytics).
The growth in online traffic is an attribute to the digital team that was appointed. We
believe we have found innovative ways of breaking news. The Citizen is therefore available
on all four platforms print, online, mobi and tablet.
In January 2015, we launched a Youth Initiative, appointing suitable graduates on a
contract basis to launch a youth programme.
THE CITIZEN TURN’S A PAGE
Source: AMPS 2014 BA /ABC Oct- Dec 2014
5. Our newspaper has the highest single copy sales compared to other Gauteng dailies, with
the exception of Sowetan and Daily Sun. The Citizen 40 394, The Star 38 231, Beeld 28 989,
Pretoria News 8 598.
Online traffic increased significantly. Our website, www.citizen.co.za is the tenth most
visited news site in South Africa according to Effective Measure January 2015. The website
reached 1 885 852 page views and 757 426 unique visitors in December 2014 (Google
Analytics).
The growth in online traffic is an attribute to the digital team that was appointed. We
believe we have found innovative ways of breaking news. The Citizen is therefore available
on all four platforms print, online, mobi and tablet.
In January 2015, we launched a Youth Initiative, appointing suitable graduates on a
contract basis to launch a youth programme.
THE CITIZEN TURN’S A PAGE
Source: AMPS 2014 BA /ABC Oct- Dec 2014
6. We have a regular supplement, Buy in Bulk, every Tuesday and Thursday. This is a hugely
successful initiative – we are heavily supported by all our cash and carry clients who invest
heavily in this supplement due to its return on their investment.
We have also just recently relaunched our Hammer & Gavel supplement. This supplement
is carried every Friday and contains auction and legal advertising.
Every year, we publish matric results. This year was a huge success, and our street sales
increased from 16 821 copies to 24 650 (unaudited) – a massive 46% increase. Copies sold
through the retailers increased from 18 111 to 27 715 copies (unaudited) in 2015, a 53%
increase in single copy sales.
Coinciding with the relaunch, we increased our cover price to R4.40, which showed little
impact on copy sales. This indicates that The Citizen has loyal readers.
THE CITIZEN TURN’S A PAGE
Source: AMPS 2014 BA /ABC Oct- Dec 2014
7. People that live in Gauteng and read any daily newspaper are 7 times more likely to read
The Citizen than any other Gauteng daily newspaper.
The 25 – 34 age group are 21% are more likely to read The Citizen than The Star.
To note further, the 45 – 54 age group are 40% more likely to read The Citizen than The
Star.
Across Gauteng population who are in the LSM 8 segment, this segment is 58% more likely
to read The Citizen than The Star/Daily Sun/Sowetan.
Across the total Citizen readership, 171,000 (39%) only read The Citizen and not any other
Gauteng daily newspaper.
WHY THE CITIZEN
Source: AMPS 2014 BA /ABC Oct- Dec 2014
