Online Journalism News

Soaring web use blots the Sun

The Sun continues to struggle with the success of its own website, latest figures suggest.

More than five million users visited the site in January 2005 - a year-on-year increase of 56 per cent. But the news site would not comment on its flourishing web audience, suggesting further concern about its declining print readership.

In September 2004, the Observer claimed Sun managers had wanted to cut most editorial content from the site to drive readers back to the newspaper.

Sun Online editor Pete Picton later described the story as 'misleading' and said that no content had been cut.

The Sun is still the biggest selling UK newspaper by some way, with daily sales of 3.3 million. However, despite its 'record' web traffic the site still attracts fewer users than Guardian Unlimited.

UK news site readership:

guardian.co.uk	9,866,609 users	November 2004
telegraph.co.uk	3,523,681 users	September 2004
the-sun.co.uk	3,233,092 users*	January 2004
scotsman.com	2,348,414 users	August 2004
dailymail.co.uk	657,045 users	November 2004

Data from figures listed on the ABCE website
* CORRECTION - 14 March 2005: This figure is from January 2004, not January 2005 as previously published

More news from dotJournalism:
Observer story slated
Clouds gather over Sun Online
Murdoch tops Guardian media power list

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
guardian unlimited | the sun | sun online | pete picton | united kingdom | news site | web audience | media power list |

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