Press Release
Wall Street Journal Asia Reports Strong Growth in Circulation, Led by Increase in Subscriptions
HONG KONG (Sept. 3, 2009)—The Wall Street Journal Asia has reported a 6.3% year-on-year increase in print circulation for the January-June period, led by a substantial increase in subscriptions, with particularly significant growth in Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Taiwan*. Average daily circulation rose from 80,706 copies in the first half of 2008 to 85,822 in the first half of this year.
Christine Brendle, publisher of The Wall Street Journal Asia and managing director, Asia, Dow Jones Consumer Media Group, said, “This strong showing is an early return on a series of investments in content and distribution that directly benefit our subscribers, and of innovative marketing programs to achieve higher-quality circulation in key markets.
“Our latest circulation figures also clearly reflect rising demand in Asia for trusted news reporting and analysis of a fast-moving news cycle dominated by gyrations in the global economy and major political and regulatory developments. The Journal news brand is expanding its editorial capabilities and coverage at a time when other publications have been scaling back, extending its reach and influence, gaining new momentum among Asian decision makers and delivering a more engaged audience to advertisers.”
Since News Corp. acquired Dow Jones in 2007, the company’s regional investments and initiatives have included: the commencement in March 2009 of printing, distribution and content licensing agreements with The Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan; the commencement, in May 2009, of printing The Wall Street Journal Asia in India; the debut in September 2008 of WSJ., a new glossy lifestyle magazine distributed with all Asia editions of the Journal; the redesign, unveiled in December 2008, of Chinese.WSJ.com, featuring enriched content and new features; the launches in February 2009 of an expanded Web site dedicated to content for Asia (asia.WSJ.com) and a homepage for India (india.WSJ.com), and the launch in July 2009 of a Web site about rural India (http://online.wsj.com/public/page/rural-india.html) jointly with India Knowledge@Wharton; the expansion of news teams in Hong Kong and New Delhi to manage and develop content for the new homepage and sites; and the regional introduction of WSJ Mobile Reader, a mobile application which can be downloaded for free and delivers content from WSJ.com, MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com and AllThingsD.com to most BlackBerry® smartphones.
Later this year, Dow Jones and SBI Holdings, Inc. of Japan, through a joint venture, Wall Street Journal Japan K.K., will launch a Japanese-language business and financial news Web site. Dow Jones holds 60% of Wall Street Journal Japan K.K. and SBIH holds 40%. The new site, carrying The Wall Street Journal brand, will primarily feature Japanese translations of content, including video and other multimedia, from all print and online editions of The Wall Street Journal and those of other Dow Jones publications. The new Japanese-language Web site will be the second major Asian-language site operated under The Wall Street Journal brand in the region. The Journal’s Chinese-language Web site, Chinese.WSJ.com, launched in 2002, has more than 500,000 registered users and is the only foreign Web site to rank (6th) in the top 10 business and finance sites in China. (Source: iwebChoice.com/iresearch.cn).
*Year-on-year data for Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Taiwan are based on Wall Street Journal Asia internal records.
About The Wall Street Journal Asia
The Wall Street Journal Asia is the leader in global business news for Asia. Since 1976, it has provided indispensable news and analysis of regional and global business developments for an influential pan-Asian audience of corporate and government decision-makers. The Wall Street Journal Asia has been voted the most "important business reading" among international daily newspapers in Asia in every ABRS/BE:ASIA study since the survey's inception in 1985.
The Wall Street Journal's China staff won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for coverage of the consequences of the nation's rapid growth. The Wall Street Journal Asia, Far Eastern Economic Review and Dow Jones Newswires, all of which are published by Dow Jones & Co., won a combined five awards in the 2009 Society of Publishers in Asia Awards for Editorial Excellence.
Edited and published in Hong Kong, The Wall Street Journal Asia is printed in eleven Asian cities-Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, New Delhi, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo-and distributed throughout the Asia Pacific region. More than 75% of its subscribers are Asian.
The Wall Street Journal’s Web site for Asia is at www.asia.wsj.com and homepage for India is at www.india.wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal is also published online in Chinese at www.chinese.wsj.com.
Media contacts:
Joe Spitzer
Corporate Communications, Asia
Dow Jones & Company
Tel: +852 9260 8339
Email: joe.spitzer@dowjones.com
James Yang
Corporate Communications, China
Dow Jones & Company
Tel: +8610 6581 4090
Email: james.yang@dowjones.com
