Digital Southern Cross ranks fifth in SA audit

Latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) show that The Southern Cross is among the market leaders in digital subscriptions among South African weeklies.

Of all weekly newspapers audited by the ABC, 14 included digital sales in their circulation. Among these, The Southern Cross ranked in fifth place, behind the Saturday Dispatch, Weekend Post, Saturday Star, and Rapport.

According to the ABC?figures, which covered the months January to March, The Southern Cross had more digital subscribers than newspapers such as the Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, and the Saturday editions of Pretoria News, Weekend Argus, Beeld and Die Burger.

Ranked by percentage of total circulation, The Southern Cross comes third (with 0,82%) behind the Saturday Dispatch (1,14%) and the Weekend Post (0,96%).

Günther Simmermacher, editor of The Southern Cross, said he was pleased with the ABC?figures. “We have attracted a significant subscriber base for our digital edition in a relatively short space of time and with little promotion. The fact that we are presently outperforming titles with a much larger circulation suggests that our readers are open to using new technologies when reading their favourite newspaper,” he said. “It puts The Southern Cross and South Africa’s Catholic community at a cutting edge of new publishing technology.”

Mr Simmermacher said that the response to the digital Southern Cross has been very positive. “Readers like that it looks exactly like the print edition — but with crisper colours which is something that newsprint cannot achieve. The digital edition also looks fantastic on tablets, which are becoming increasingly widespread in South Africa. It’s one way to connect with younger Catholics in particular,” the editor said.

Part of the digital Southern Cross subscription is free access to past issues going back to early 2010. According to Mr Simmermacher, the digital team is looking to expand these archives.

The Southern Cross is presently investigating ways of making expatriate South Africans aware of The Southern Cross’ digital edition. “We believe that many South African Catholics who have gone to live in Australia, New Zealand, Canada or Britain would love to have a connection with the Church back home. Now we need to find a way of telling them that they can have that connection through our digital edition,” Mr Simmermacher said.

An annual subscription to the digital edition of The Southern Cross costs R291,50 (until June 30, 2012). Visit www.scross.co.za/subscribe