Belfast Telegraph

Belfast Telegraph
Type Daily newspaper
Format Compact
Owner(s) Independent News & Media
Founder(s) William & George Baird
Editor Gail Walker
Founded 1870
Language English
Headquarters 124-144 Royal Avenue
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Circulation 49,228
Sister newspapers Sunday Life
Website www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Belfast Telegraph offices, July 2010

The Belfast Telegraph is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media.

History

It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and George Baird. Its first edition cost half a penny and ran to four pages covering the Franco-Prussian war and local news.

The evening edition of the newspaper was originally called the "Sixth Late", and "Sixth Late Tele" was a familiar cry made by vendors in Belfast City Centre in the past.

Its competitors are The News Letter and The Irish News but the local editions of the London-based red tops are also competitors, selling at a cheaper price than the 'Tele'.

The Belfast Telegraph was entirely broadsheet until 19 February 2005, when the Saturday morning edition was introduced and all Saturday editions were converted to compact.[1] The weekday morning Compact Edition, launched on 22 March 2005,[2] struggled to replicate the evening newspaper's success. Its editorial content has been much more tabloid, with a greater entertainment story count than the evening paper. Much prominence is given to English-based sport, and some general features and columns are shared with The Independent and Irish Independent.

The paper now publishes two editions daily, Belfast Telegraph final edition and the North West Telegraph which is distributed in Derry.

Circulation

By the end of the 20th century, the Belfast Telegraph was selling more than 100,000 copies daily.

According to the UK Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper still had an average daily circulation of 94,540 between June 2004 and January 2005. But since then sales have fallen steadily year on year, the average sales figure for the first six months of 2009 showing a large drop of 10.5% year on year to 68,024,[3] then to just over 66,000. There was a slight upturn in the first six months of 2010.

But such was the overall decline in circulation that in the ABC figures for January to June 2012, the Irish News surpassed the Belfast Telegraph in terms of full-priced copies sold, with the once unrivalled Telegraph now trailing the Irish News by 1,284 copies per day. They show that the regional daily saw its circulation fall by 9.2 percent year on year to an average of 53,847 for the first six months of the year.[4] However, when its discounted and give-away prices are taken into account, the Belfast Telegraph still has the highest circulation as audited by ABC of the local daily newspapers including the NI edition of the Daily Mirror 52,009, Irish News 42,084 and News Letter 22,198.

The Belfast Telegraph is read by 174,000 people daily according to NITIG 2012, annual readership research subscribed to by media owners and advertising agencies throughout Britain or Ireland. Its readership shows the best balanced readership across all communities in Northern Ireland.[5]

In the period of January to June 2013 it dropped by 8.6% to 49,228, but remained the best selling newspaper in Northern Ireland.[6]

Supplements

The Belfast Telegraph is the primary title of Independent News & Media (NI) Ltd. It carries many supplements including:

They ceased to print the Ireland's Saturday Night sports evening newspaper in July 2008.

A sister paper is Sunday Life. Also associated is Ads for Free. And the paper holds the printing contract for The Daily Mirror, The Sun, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Irish Daily Star, The Daily Star and The Times for Northern Ireland.

Awards

The Belfast Telegraph was named as Best UK Regional Newspaper of the Year 2012 by the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards.[11]

At the Coca-Cola CIPR Awards, the Belfast Telegraph scooped the following awards: Newspaper of the Year, Website of the Year, Supplement of the Year for its Titanic Tales series, Business Journalist of the Year Claire McNeilly, Production Journalist of the year for Heather Byrne, Features Journalist of the Year for Jane Hardy and Lifetime Achievement Award for former Editor Roy Lilley.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Belfast Telegraph expands Saturday coverage". Belfast Telegraph. 9 February 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Ulster wakes up to new early Telegraph". Belfast Telegraph. 21 March 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Plunkett, John (27 August 2009). "Regional ABC August 2009". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Belfast Telegraph ABC Audited Figures 2 Jan 2012 - 1 Jul 2012
  5. ↑ http://www.tgisurveys.com TGI Surveys Website
  6. ↑ 2 Jan 2013 - Jun 2013
  7. ↑ ABC February 2012 - http://www.abc.org.uk/Products-Services/Product-Page/?tid=22532
  8. ↑ Belfast Telegraph, Sunday Life & nijobfinder.co.uk over 4 weeks
  9. ↑ NITGI 2012
  10. ↑ NITGI2012 - Read nicarfinder supplement in print every week & nicarfinder.co.uk online every month
  11. ↑ Canning, Margaret (28 May 2012). "Belfast Telegraph is named best regional daily in the UK at prestigious awards ceremony". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "NI Media Awards". Archived from the original on October 20, 2012.

External links

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