The latest audited figures of newspaper circulations as certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) are out. They show the average circulation for the period January- December 2023. These figures are the most reliable benchmarks for the publishing industry. The rigour the ABC follows strips away all inflated claims of publishers about the circulation of their respective media entities.
These figures show that the English edition of the Free Press Journal – Mumbai - (also referred to as FPJ) registered an increase. This is heartening news for the FPJ group because it reaffirms two things.:
1. The Free Press continues to grow in a highly competitive market.
2. FPJ continues to remain a key player in the Mumbai market with growing circulation. It is the only publication to have an ABC certificate to prove and confirm this. None of the other English papers in this city has opted to get their circulation figures audited.
It also reaffirms the need for newspapers to go in for a proper audit so that advertisers get a clear understanding of the actual circulation of newspapers, instead of being bulldozed into accepting the figures that the managements claim they have. Currently many newspapers use outdated IRL data for 2019 to claim that their circulation figures are high. They have not gone in for an ABC audit which advertisers trust immensely.
Incidentally, the Indore edition of the group has also shown growth. Its circulation has grown in that city as well, even when other publications have registered decline.
At FPJ, growth, relevance and reliability remain the three key focus areas. It is because of the emphasis on relevance that FPJ decided to promote its digital activities aggressively. Its English language pdf daily newspapers are sent out to 2.75 lakh recipients daily. It does not take into account the onward forwarding and distribution of these pdf copies by recipients. The group has categorically stated repeatedly that it welcomes onward distribution because the pdf version is available free of cost to anyone who wishes to read it. It is FPJ’s way of reaffirming the right to information and knowledge that every Indian must have.
