While readership figures for most of the newspapers in the Limpopo showed a decline, the Mirror has strengthened its position at the top and is yet again the best-selling community newspaper in the province.

The latest figures for the Audit Bureaux of Circulation were released two weeks ago and make for interesting reading. The Limpopo Mirror has shown an increase in sales for the period October 2008 to December 2008, going from 8 817 to 9 194. Even though the Mirror only sells in the northern parts of the province, it sold on average almost 2 400 copies per week more than its closest rival, the Capricorn Voice (6 795 copies).

Ironically enough, the Capricorn Voice is now outselling its sister paper, the Polokwane based Northern Review (6 154 copies – Friday edition). This came as quite a surprise to many in the industry, as the Review used to be the flagship of the Caxton-owned Northern Media Group (NMG) and at one stage boasted with sales of close to 10 000 copies per week.

The reason for the Review’s decline is possibly the two strong independent newspapers in Polokwane, namely the Limpopo Informant and the Polokwane Observer. The Informant has audited sales figures of 4 156 copies per week, but the Observer only has a Grassroots ABC certification, which verifies the number of copies printed (10 000) and not the sales. The Observer’s copy sales, however, should be close to those of the Review.

A quick glance at the figures for the rest of the province reveals that the more established groups might be losing market share to the independent publishers. In Tzaneen, the NMG-owned Letaba Herald went from 4 102 sold copies to 3 377 in the period October to December last year, compared to the previous year. This paper’s opposition, the Lowveld Bulletin, also only has a grassroots certification, making it difficult to judge how big a share of the market it has conquered. The Letaba Herald’s sister paper, the Phalaborwa Herald, took a dump from 2 404 and now sells 2 050 copies per week.

In Louis Trichardt the Mirror’s sister paper, the Zoutpansberger, is as steady as always and sits at 2 482 copies sold per week.