UK newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror reckons digital revenue will have grown by up to a quarter when it posts results for the half-year ending July 1. Digital revenue from the regionals division, which operates the “ic” network of 45 newspaper-affiliated websites, is expected to show “strong underlying growth of 25.2 percent”, while that from the nationals division, which runs the likes of The Mirror and the Daily Record, will show growth of 16.2 percent.
Overall, a persistently “volatile” advertising market expects to see group ad revenues fall 1.5 percent (1.6 percent in regionals and 2.4 percent in nationals, but up 12.4 percent in the sports division), while group-wide circulation will be up 0.7 percent thanks to growth in Scotland. Trinity Mirror is looking to sell its sports division and part of the regionals business, expecting to confirm sales in the next few weeks. Results are posted August 2.
The company yesterday switched on redesigned versions of the sites for its two Liverpool papers – the Echo and the Daily Post. With more multimedia and comment functionality, the sites will be a template for the rest of the network.