Press FAQ

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  • What are ABC and ABCe?
    ABC is the industry owned organization which reports on circulation, distribution, exhibition attendance and online data for the media industry.  ABCe is the online arm of ABC, its focus is raising standards for digital media reporting and measurement.
  • When and why was ABC founded?
    ABC was founded in 1931 as a response to advertisers' requests for an independent source of circulation data. ABCe was established in 1996 to manage standards for the online industry through its work with JICWEBS, The Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (www.jicwebs.org)
  • Do all publications audit with ABC?
    Publications are not required to audit with ABC but the vast majority of national and regional newspapers and B2B and consumer magazines do so.
  • Who decides the audit rules?
    ABC is governed by a board of permanent and elected representatives including media owners, media buyers, advertisers and representatives from industry trade bodies.  The audit rules are called Reporting Standards and any changes to these are instigated and agreed on by these representatives to ensure the needs of the media industry are met.
  • How does ABC data differ to NRS data?
    ABC audits circulation using a census (counting) based approach i.e. the number of copies of a publication sold or distributed free of charge.  NRS provides an estimate of the number and type readers of a publication by using panel based (research) approach.
  • How is ABC funded?
    ABC and ABCe is funded by its members who pay a one-off membership fee followed by individual audit fees. The costs of being in membership are not prohibitive and start from around £1,500 depending on the type of publication.
  • Why does ABC not comment on market trends?
    ABC publishes data on individual publications or websites.  We cannot add figures together to give a market or sector total because not all publications or web properties audit. ABC data can therefore never be entirely representative of a market sector.
  • How often are ABC reports released?
    National newspaper reports, multi-platform reports for national newspapers and ABC bulk (free newspaper pick up) reports are issued monthly. Consumer Magazine, Regional publications and Irish media data is issued concurrently twice a year.  B2B magazine and online data is released on certificates throughout the year.  
  • How can I obtain an ABC report?
    All ABC reports are published on this website as soon as they are issued. Only members of ABC can access reports.  For more information on joining ABC click here.  If you are not a member, but are a journalist requiring data, please contact our press office for further information.