In the press category the total newspaper circulation declined by 1.5% on the previous quarter, and six percent on the prior year.
Daily newspapers declined on the previous quarter, by 3.9% and almost 12% (11.9%) on the prior year.
Of the dailies Isolezwe increased by 0.4% on the previous quarter, but still saw a decline of 9.5% over the prior year. Gauteng-based The Star and The Pretoria News declined over the previous quarter and over the prior year, as did The Times, which Tiso Blackstar recently announced it would be closing. The paper showed the biggest decline in this category, declining by 23.7% over the prior year, followed by The Pretoria News and The Star, which declined by 17.3% and 12.4% over the prior year, respectively.
Over the previous quarter The Pretoria News showed the biggest decline quarter (8.7%) with The Star and The Times neck to neck with a decline of 6.3% and 6.2% (respectively).
| Publication | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| Daily Sun | 155,908 | -5.5% | -15.0% |
| Daily Nation | 125,092 | -1.2% | -6.2% |
| Isolezwe | 85,807 | 0.4% | -9.5% |
| Star, The | 75,288 | -6.3% | -12.4% |
| Sowetan | 73,650 | 0.1% | -16.6% |
| Son (Daily) | 66,645 | -7.5% | -8.9% |
| Burger, Die Daily | 46,379 | -2.7% | -6.1% |
| The Times. | 45,098 | -6.2% | -23.7% |
| Citizen, The (Daily) | 44,216 | 0.2% | -3.8% |
| Namibian, The | 38,967 | -3.6% | -9.8% |
| Beeld, Daily | 37,560 | -6.0% | -13.4% |
| Bukedde | 34,477 | 4.1% | 75.8% |
| Cape Times | 29,608 | -4.4% | -4.8% |
| Cape Argus | 27,640 | -4.8% | -8.1% |
| New Vision | 26,930 | 0.0% | -3.3% |
| Mercury, The | 25,129 | -4.7% | -2.4% |
| Daily News | 23,283 | -1.2% | -8.0% |
| Times of Swaziland | 21,903 | -2.6% | 1.7% |
| Business Day | 20,030 | -0.1% | -15.2% |
| Herald, The | 18,172 | -3.6% | -10.9% |
| Daily Dispatch | 18,086 | -3.8% | -12.9% |
| Daily Monitor | 17,736 | 3.5% | -4.9% |
| Volksblad - Daily | 14,259 | -3.0% | -9.2% |
| Taifa Leo | 14,093 | 7.2% | 2.4% |
| Witness, The | 12,637 | -3.7% | -6.9% |
| Pretoria News | 12,570 | -8.7% | -17.3% |
| Zambia Daily Mail | 7,806 | -21.5% | -33.8% |
| Diamond Fields Advertiser | 7,563 | -4.5% | -8.5% |
While increasing on the previous quarter by 3.8%, weekly newspapers decreased by 6.5% on the prior year. Soccer Laduma almost completely reversed its previous quarter decline of 8.2% in Q2 (over Q1), with an 8.1% increase. It, however, decreased by 4.6% year on year (vs Q2’s increase of 6.5% over the prior year).
The Lesotho Times followed the same trend, increasing by 2.8% on the prior quarter, but dropping 5.5% over the prior year. The Post was the big loser in the category, showing a decline of 7.6% over the prior quarter and 14.7% over the prior year.
| Publication | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| Soccer Laduma | 281,950 | 8.0% | -4.6% |
| Ilanga | 63,718 | -2.1% | -11.5% |
| Post, The | 36,703 | -7.5% | -14.7% |
| Mail & Guardian | 27,766 | -5.6% | -3.5% |
| Voice, The | 15,708 | -4.9% | -13.5% |
| Botswana Guardian | 11,889 | 2.1% | 0.7% |
| Botswana Gazette , The | 10,359 | -2.5% | -5.9% |
| Confidente | 9,029 | 4.4% | -18.9% |
| The Monitor (Formerly Mmegi Monitor) | 7,993 | -5.4% | -8.2% |
| Lesotho Times | 7,792 | 2.8% | 5.6% |
| Midweek Sun, The | 7,578 | -6.4% | 1.2% |
| Mmegi Reporter, The | 6,131 | -3.9% | -7.0% |
The weekend newspapers did not fare any better and continued the declining trend set by the dailies and weeklies, with a 3.4% decline on the previous quarter, and the biggest overall decline in the press category of 12.1% decline on the prior year.
Two titles increased their quarter percentage over the prior quarter, Ilanga Langesonto (2.3%) and Sunday World (0.7%).
Sunday World also laid claim to the biggest decline on the prior year with a drop of 22.1%. The Pretoria News Saturday declined by double figures both over the prior quarter (11.1%) and prior year (16.6%). Ilanga Langesonto declined 11.7% over the prior year.
| Publication | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| Sunday Times | 260,781 | -0.7% | -8.0% |
| Sunday Nation | 144,554 | 1.5% | -3.1% |
| Rapport | 115,878 | -6.8% | -9.3% |
| Sunday Sun | 75,906 | -3.1% | -25.5% |
| Isolezwe ngeSonto | 67,499 | -1.5% | -10.1% |
| Isolezwe ngoMgqibelo | 65,213 | -5.2% | -13.8% |
| City Press | 62,962 | -8.3% | -25.0% |
| Burger, Die Saturday | 59,048 | -3.4% | -6.0% |
| Sunday World | 54,836 | 0.7% | -22.1% |
| Weekend Argus | 51,651 | -1.5% | -4.6% |
| Sunday Tribune | 51,510 | -2.3% | -15.8% |
| Saturday Star, The | 44,929 | -7.1% | -12.2% |
| Son op Sondag (formerly Sondag Son) | 38,066 | -7.3% | -12.7% |
| Ilanga Langesonto | 37,746 | 2.3% | -11.7% |
| Beeld, Saturday | 36,962 | -3.7% | -8.3% |
| Independent on Saturday | 35,092 | -5.9% | -5.4% |
| Citizen, The (Saturday) | 32,646 | -3.4% | -1.9% |
| Sunday Vision | 17,599 | -1.1% | -5.2% |
| Weekend Post | 16,458 | -6.1% | -7.6% |
| Saturday Dispatch | 16,372 | -0.6% | -7.2% |
| Volksblad - Saturday | 13,470 | -4.4% | -7.6% |
| Taifa Jumapili | 12,978 | 9.2% | 5.8% |
| Weekend Witness | 12,555 | -3.8% | -9.1% |
| Sunday Monitor | 11,476 | 0.6% | -5.5% |
| The Southern Cross | 7,744 | -3.5% | -6.7% |
| Pretoria News Saturday | 7,530 | -11.1% | -16.6% |
| Sunday Mail | 5,213 | -37.6% | -41.0% |
These remained static compared to the previous quarter, with a 6.6% decline on the prior year. The biggest upward move is from Tembisan, with a massive increase over the prior quarter by 64.7%. This reflected a large drop in circulation in the previous quarter. This quarter’s figure is in line with that of the previous year.
While Grocott’s Mail showed the biggest decline – 45.7% – over the prior year, continuing its downward trend from Q2, when it also declined significantly by 50% over the prior year. The paper did show a slight increase over the prior quarter of 4.5%, as opposed to its Q2 decline of 26.5%. Grocott’s Mail claimed PDF replica editions in the previous year.
The Limpopo Mirror (6.4%) and Rustenburg Herald (7.1%) both increased their percentage over the prior quarter and prior year – The Mirror by 6.4% and 3.4 % and The Herald by 7.1% and 4.6 %, continuing to build on the increases it gained in Q2. The Tembisan lost 4.1% on the prior year.
| Publication (top 20) | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| African Reporter | 22,075 | 2.6% | -0.6% |
| Witbank News, Fri | 18,531 | 2.1% | -5.5% |
| Rustenburg Herald | 18,270 | 7.1% | 4.6% |
| George Herald (Thursday) | 14,963 | -3.3% | -5.1% |
| Middelburg Observer, Fri | 14,389 | 0.8% | -5.6% |
| Klerksdorp Rekord | 13,490 | -2.2% | -7.2% |
| Lowvelder, The / Laevelder, Die (Friday) | 13,001 | -7.7% | -5.9% |
| South Coast Herald | 12,204 | -1.9% | -5.3% |
| Lowvelder, The / Laevelder, Die ( Tuesday) | 12,008 | -2.8% | -7.1% |
| Paarl Post | 11,787 | -0.7% | -0.1% |
| The Mail | 10,664 | 4.6% | -2.8% |
| Weslander, The | 10,206 | -1.2% | -4.4% |
| Worcester Standard | 8,612 | -3.4% | -1.5% |
| Limpopo Mirror | 7,997 | 6.4% | 3.4% |
| Gemsbok | 7,873 | -5.6% | -14.1% |
| Mpumalanga News | 7,846 | 3.8% | -3.3% |
| Mosselbay Advertiser | 7,192 | -3.9% | -6.3% |
| Vaalweekblad | 6,811 | -4.0% | -12.4% |
| District Mail | 6,788 | -3.5% | -11.7% |
| Capricorn Voice | 5,910 | -11.9% | -15.8% |
While showing a decrease of 1.2% on the previous quarter, local newspapers increased by 3.8% on the prior year.
New member Public Eye Free State had a 46.4% increase on the prior quarter. The big winner in this category, Umgungundlovu Eyethu, grew by 42.2% over the prior quarter and 41.1% over the prior year. This follows its change to Umgungundlovu Eyethu from Umngeni Eyethu as well as the fact that it is now covering a larger area.
Other movers included Dolphin Coast Mail and East Coast Mail, with both titles increasing by 8.3% over the prior quarter and the prior year.
| Publication (top 20) | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| PE Express | 119,922 | 0.0% | 13.2% |
| Tame Times - Weekly | 108,437 | 0.7% | Rebranded |
| Sedibeng Ster | 100,985 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Msunduzi News | 99,990 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Plainsman | 88,536 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| People s Post Mitchells Plain | 83,340 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Vukani | 81,100 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Rekord East/Oos | 78,642 | -0.2% | -0.2% |
| Tabletalk | 67,523 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Randburg Sun | 60,019 | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| Rekord Centurion | 60,010 | -0.1% | -0.1% |
| Mthatha Express | 59,987 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| The Rising Sun. | 59,960 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Athlone News | 55,937 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Kempton Express | 55,507 | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| Highway Mail | 54,555 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Northern News - Kraaifontein, Brackenfel, Kuils River | 53,500 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Phoenix Tabloid | 51,825 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Roodepoort Record | 51,467 | -0.1% | 0.7% |
Total magazine circulation declined by 2.6% on the previous quarter, and by 13.5% on the prior year.
While consumer magazines increased by 5.2% on the prior year, this increase is due to several titles changing sector from custom to consumer. If these moves are discounted, then the category actually declined by 7.6% on the prior year. The category decreased by 2.1% on the previous quarter.
Hello Johannesburg showed the biggest increases over the prior quarter (51.6%) and over the prior year (60.3%). This follows an increased bulk requested – domestic distribution because of a special event in September 2017.
The quarter’s other biggest percentage increases are from Elle, of 38.5%, which increased back issues, bringing it in line with the prior year, as did Bike SA (22.1%). Golf Digest increased by 21.8% off increased business subscriptions compared to the previous quarter, and back issues compared to the prior year. Caravan & Outdoor Life increased both copy sales and back issues to show an increase of 21.4%
The other titles biggest percentage change over the prior year are Finweek (58.3%), which increased PDF replica editions below 50% of cover price and Golf Digest (53.3%).
Showing a decline over the prior year are The Gardener/Die Tuinier (11.1%) and Glamour (3.9%).
| Publication (top 50) | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| Huisgenoot | 190,586 | -3.1% | -10.2% |
| Sports Club | 153,840 | -4.5% | Changed sector |
| Post Matric | 134,200 | 0.0% | New member |
| Kids Super Club | 118,672 | 7.0% | Changed sector |
| My Kitchen. | 98,017 | 4.6% | Changed sector |
| You | 97,506 | -5.3% | -11.0% |
| Kuier | 91,672 | -7.2% | -3.1% |
| Tuis Home | 80,101 | 7.2% | 3.7% |
| The Official Safeways K53 Learner's and Driver's Manual | 74,475 | 0.0% | New member |
| Woman and Home | 73,294 | -4.7% | -6.0% |
| Bona | 71,952 | 6.0% | 1.0% |
| Kuier Combo | 70,539 | 0.0% | -2.5% |
| Move! | 70,062 | -2.7% | -17.4% |
| Living Space. | 68,827 | -3.1% | Changed sector |
| Modern Athlete | 68,669 | -7.3% | 29.6% |
| Taalgenoot. | 68,427 | 0.0% | -0.9% |
| Tech. | 66,088 | -0.6% | Changed sector |
| Rooi Rose | 63,818 | -7.7% | -6.2% |
| Car | 62,130 | -2.8% | 5.1% |
| Sarie | 57,272 | -11.2% | -14.4% |
| Expectant Mothers Guide | 55,647 | 0.0% | 0.8% |
| Child Magazine - Johannesburg. | 55,241 | 0.0% | Changed freq. |
| Weg/Go | 53,897 | -3.0% | -5.6% |
| MamaMagic Milestones | 50,209 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Vroue Keur | 48,536 | -7.9% | -11.0% |
| SA Hunter/Jagter | 47,931 | -0.5% | 9.1% |
| Child Magazine - Cape Town. | 47,837 | 0.0% | Changed freq. |
| SA Garden and Home | 47,299 | -8.7% | -8.1% |
| Finesse. | 45,973 | 0.0% | Changed freq. |
| Glamour | 45,478 | 5.3% | -3.9% |
| The Great Outdoors Guide / Die Groot Buitelewegids | 43,461 | 0.0% | -20.4% |
| Getaway | 42,590 | 0.9% | 1.8% |
| Motor. | 41,035 | -1.4% | Changed sector |
| Drum | 40,680 | -8.9% | -19.5% |
| Child Magazine Pretoria. | 40,050 | 0.0% | Changed freq. |
| Child Magazine - Durban. | 40,045 | 0.0% | Changed freq. |
| The Gardener / Die Tuinier | 38,806 | 13.7% | -11.1% |
| SA Home Owner | 38,536 | -0.5% | -3.7% |
| Good Housekeeping / Goeie Huishouding | 37,753 | -18.0% | -21.6% |
| go! Drive & Camp and Weg! Ry & Sleep | 37,413 | #VALUE! | Rebranded |
| Cosmopolitan | 37,128 | 7.1% | -12.8% |
| People | 34,787 | -9.4% | -17.8% |
| Business Brief. | 33,111 | 0.0% | Changed sector |
| Landbouweekblad Boerekos | 33,042 | 0.0% | -10.1% |
| Fairlady | 32,975 | 2.5% | -8.5% |
| Weg / Go Platteland | 32,729 | 0.0% | -7.6% |
| Conde Nast House & Garden | 32,595 | 0.0% | -5.2% |
| Women's Health. | 31,520 | -3.7% | -11.4% |
| Weg Namibië / Go Namibia | 30,585 | 0.0% | -13.8% |
| Signature Golf | 30,526 | 0.0% | New Member |
The business to business (B2B) magazines, while increasing by one percent on prior year, the category declined by two percent on the previous quarter. Despite this Public Sector Manager, Stockfarm, Travel News Weekly and Risk Africa all showed an increase over the prior quarter. Public Sector Manager had the biggest increase of 37.4%, followed by Stockfarm (18.2%), Travel News Weekly (15%) and Risk Africa (14.2%).
| Publication (top 30) | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| The Greeff Magazine | 49,500 | 0.0% | 1.0% |
| Industrial Buyer | 39,830 | 0.0% | 2.6% |
| Agri Inc. Die Boer / The Farmer. | 28,678 | 0.0% | 2.4% |
| Public Sector Manager | 19,728 | 37.4% | 7.6% |
| South African Business. | 19,299 | 0.0% | New Member |
| Walls & Roofs in Africa | 17,624 | 0.0% | 3.8% |
| Floors in Africa | 17,585 | 0.0% | 3.0% |
| SA Graan / Grain | 16,803 | -2.5% | -2.6% |
| Careers SA | 16,000 | 0.0% | -1.4% |
| African Decisions | 15,843 | 0.0% | -2.9% |
| South African Business Intergrator | 15,151 | 0.0% | 102.0% |
| Seeff Property Pages - Altantic Seaboard & City Bowl | 14,900 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Eastern Cape Business.. | 14,775 | 0.0% | New member |
| The Meetings & Event Planner (former SA Conference Directory) | 14,773 | 0.0% | 0.7% |
| Gauteng Companies.. | 14,719 | 0.0% | New member |
| KwaZulu Natal Business.. | 14,629 | 0.0% | New member |
| Western Cape Business, | 14,575 | 0.0% | New member |
| Think Sales. | 11,655 | 0.0% | 11.9% |
| Civil Engineering | 11,595 | -1.3% | 2.2% |
| Automotive Business Review, | 11,480 | 0.0% | Changed freq. |
| Engineering News | 11,213 | -1.0% | 3.9% |
| Spotong | 11,166 | 0.0% | 14.5% |
| Mining Weekly | 10,731 | -0.2% | 2.9% |
| SA Building Review | 10,680 | 0.0% | 3.4% |
| Medical Chronicle | 10,158 | 0.5% | -3.1% |
| Impumelelo SA's Top Empowerment Co. | 9,883 | 0.0% | 16.7% |
| The Responsible & Sustainable Tourism Handbook | 9,841 | 0.0% | 141.4% |
| The International FMCG Retailer. | 9,818 | 804.1% | 317.4% |
| Northern Cape Business.. | 9,790 | 0.0% | New member |
| Salga Voice of Local Government | 9,785 | 0.0% | -0.8% |
Public Sector Manager and Travel News Weekly also showed increases over the prior year (7.6% and 7.9% respectively), while Stockfarm and Risk Africa had decreases, with Risk Africa decreasing by 24% and Stockfarm by 6%.
The decline of 25.7% on the prior year is a result of several titles changing sector from custom to consumer. Excluding these changes, the category declined by 20% on the prior year. The decline was also further impacted by several large titles which were discontinued. The category also declined by 3.3% on the prior quarter.
| Publication (top 30) | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| DSTV Premium Mag / Tydskrif | 526,548 | -20.5% | -31.9% |
| Club Magazine | 500,357 | -4.4% | -16.6% |
| Edgars Club Magazine | 494,696 | -5.9% | -28.9% |
| Jet Club | 484,247 | 0.0% | -20.4% |
| Fresh Living / Kook en Kuier | 461,621 | 2.7% | -1.3% |
| Clicks Club Card. | 393,476 | 0.0% | -21.8% |
| Spur's Secret Tribe Magazine | 249,800 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Ackermans Club (formerly A-Plus) | 215,392 | 0.0% | 0.6% |
| Forum Tydskrif | 165,375 | 0.0% | 24.9% |
| Bankmed | 164,922 | 0.0% | 54.5% |
| Jump | 113,296 | 0.0% | 6.3% |
| ClubX | 109,414 | -1.5% | -12.1% |
| Solidarity Magazine / Solidariteit Tydskrif | 109,083 | 0.0% | 3.8% |
| Balanced Life | 94,329 | -1.8% | 1.1% |
| Sawubona | 88,611 | -0.5% | -0.3% |
| Life Healthcare | 86,647 | 0.0% | -2.0% |
| Sea Rescue | 81,152 | 0.0% | 8.6% |
| Soccer Club | 75,097 | -1.4% | -2.6% |
| Man | 65,578 | -3.3% | 1.5% |
| Wild | 64,895 | 0.0% | 1.8% |
| Signature : Diners Club | 64,394 | 0.0% | -0.2% |
| Best of Cape Town Central City. | 59,795 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Medi - Clinic Family | 59,325 | 0.0% | -21.9% |
| AA Traveller | 59,173 | 0.0% | 2.0% |
| Escapes | 56,342 | 2.2% | -6.8% |
| Sonke Magazine, | 47,688 | 0.0% | Changed freq. |
| Equinox | 37,285 | 0.0% | -5.5% |
| Cheers | 34,900 | 0.0% | Resigned |
| Pam Golding Properties: Imagine. | 33,785 | 0.0% | Changed sector |
| Accountancy SA | 32,377 | -3.4% | -9.2% |
The free magazines category was static compared to the previous quarter, but declined by 32.4% on the prior year, the result of a large circulating title whose membership was terminated.
101 titles have submitted web traffic data.
| Title (top 20) | Sector | Unique browsers | Web page impressions |
| The Citizen | Daily Newspapers | 98,732 | 10,537,928 |
| Daily Sun | Daily Newspapers | 94,414 | 14,140,311 |
| Son | Daily Newspapers | 24,337 | 3,564,469 |
| City Press | Weekend Newspapers | 21,933 | 1,337,340 |
| SA Rugby | Consumer Magazine | 17,281 | 917,903 |
| Car | Consumer Magazine | 14,565 | 876,738 |
| Good Housekeeping/ Goeie Huishoudng | Consumer Magazine | 10,371 | 571,093 |
| Destiny Magazine | Consumer Magazine | 10,178 | 515,027 |
| Roodepoort Record | Free Newspaper | 8,921 | 461,624 |
| Getaway | Consumer Magazine | 8,873 | 448,814 |
| Lowvelder | Digital | 7,949 | 409,589 |
| Rekord Centurion | Free Newspaper | 7,113 | 314,934 |
| Rekord East/Oos | Free Newspaper | 6,892 | 325,279 |
| Kempton Express | Free Newspaper | 6,551 | 339,869 |
| Krugersdorp News | Free Newspaper | 5,876 | 321,849 |
| Northglen News | Free Newspaper | 5,626 | 281,383 |
| Bona | Consumer Magazine | 4,703 | 255,201 |
| Vrouekeur | Consumer Magazine | 4,421 | 299,025 |
| Destiny Man | Consumer Magazine | 4,285 | 211,012 |
| Highway Mail | Free Newspaper | 4,093 | 193,486 |
36 titles have submitted net delivery data.
| Publication (top 20) | Circulation | % change quarter | % change year |
| Sarie | 113633 | -7.5% | -48.9% |
| Getaway Magazine | 92379 | -0.9% | -1.4% |
| Fairlady | 70040 | 5.1% | 44.1% |
| Huisgenoot | 52694 | 5.0% | 3.8% |
| Good Taste | 50796 | 0.0% | New Member |
| Homemakers Fair Johannesburg | 47035 | -7.8% | New Member |
| Marie Claire | 46869 | -4.8% | 7.8% |
| Sarie Kos | 45844 | 0.0% | New Member |
| Cosmopolitan | 44851 | 8.6% | 9.5% |
| Weg / Go | 43193 | 2.6% | 80.9% |
| Men's Health | 42398 | -12.9% | -30.5% |
| Kick Off | 40105 | -0.6% | -1.2% |
| Women's Health | 36614 | -5.7% | -36.5% |
| Bicycling | 32645 | 0.0% | New Member |
| House and Leisure | 32461 | 10.7% | 24.3% |
| Runner's World | 32227 | 8.7% | 37.9% |
| go! Drive & Camp and Weg! Ry & Sleep | 29856 | New Member | |
| Voelgoed | 27398 | 0.0% | New Member |
| Essentials | 25923 | 10.6% | 48.9% |
| Popular Mechanics | 25480 | -1.5% | -5.3% |
