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Newsquest local news sites attract record audiences

Posted on: February 12, 2021 by admin

Newsquest has reported record growth in the digital audience of its 160 local news sites.

The regional media publisher’s sites attracted 45.6 million unique visitors this January, up 32.9% year on year, generating 260 million page views in the month, an average of 5.7 pages per visitor.

In the six months July to December 2020, Newsquest sites averaged monthly unique visitors of 41.5 million unique visitors, up 40.1% year on year.

The online audience data for Newsquest sites for the last seven months is shown in the table below.

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In April last year, Newsquest rolled out digital subscriptions across 70 of its larger news sites, placing some of its local news content behind a pay wall. Digital subscriber volumes are ahead of expectations and online audiences have continued to surge.

Henry Faure Walker, CEO of Newsquest Media Group, said: “Local news sites in the UK command huge engaged audiences and have become the online destination for people who want trusted news, information and insights about what’s going on in their community.

“We’re particularly encouraged by the growth in Newsquest’s digital subscription business which is substantially ahead of expectations, and our new pay walls have had no significant constraint on the ongoing traffic growth we are seeing.”

This piece first appeared on Behind Local News.