Isle of Wight County Press remains the UK's biggest selling local weekly newspaper
Figures released by ABC prove the popularity of the printed newspaper amid soaring online figures from 2024 that recently confirmed a record-breaking year for countypress.co.uk — which is officially the Island's most popular and most read news website.
Although we are growing hugely online, our professional journalists pour care and attention into the printed paper, which has been relied on by Islanders since 1884.
Exciting changes are coming too. Listening to readers, the Newport-based team will be packing more news into the 80-page paper to fit even more stories in, while retaining popular features such as heritage, letters and spotlights on businesses.
Sales figures for the County Press are externally audited and verified at 8,940 a week, with every copy sold accounted for accurately.
Newspaper sales are in decline across the industry but the County Press's year on year sales performance continues to perform way above the industry average.
The CP has a weekly print readership of more than 31,000 and our brand reaches more than 122,000 on a monthly basis across print and digital, according to the JICREG data as of September 2024.
County Press editor Lori Little said: "Our newspaper has been around since 1884 and is an integral part of the history of the Island, and remains vitally important today.
"Readers can rely on trusted news, written by a local team of professionally qualified journalists, and we pack the 80 pages with exclusives, features, photographs, opinions and letters, and much more.
"With our huge growth in online news, to be selling 8,940 copies on average a week is no mean feat!
"We started 2025 with a record-breaking month when the newsroom recorded its best month yet online for both page views and page visits. It recorded an incredible 3.352 million page views in January and 1.912 million visits."
As well as the printed version, there is the opportunity to read the County Press from cover to cover thanks to our digital edition, available exclusively to our website subscribers, and an online app.
It means the County Press can be read from anywhere in the world.
Recently we added our online historic archive as a free bonus for those who subscribe - with papers dating back to 1884.
Look out for the exciting changes to the newspaper, which will see more news packed into the weekly editions!
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