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the changes carried out in response to the challenges posed by falling Mass attendances and a shrinking newspaper industry. It was in September 2004 that the Pic morphed into a monthly, fullcolour magazine, a necessary adaptation to the changing demand for print publications – as well as the diminishing advertising revenues available in the face of the digital revolution.
Archbishop Worlock with Archbishop Beck
Kim O’Brien, who has been managing director of CPMM Ltd since 1991, explains: ‘Had it stayed as a weekly, paidfor title, the paper would have folded. Financially it wouldn’t have survived as sales revenue declined and we were up against falling numbers going to church. If, at the point of sale, there are less people there, how are we going to sell it?’ Kim has the Pic in her blood. Her father, Ken Till, worked for Mersey Mirror for two decades and was managing director from 1988 until his sudden death three years later. She sees the bigger picture. For the Pic, challenges are nothing new. ‘I have records going way back and it’s interesting reading them as you’d almost think you were reading things from the present day,’ she reflects. ‘If it’s not a reference to a recession, it’s the reduction in Mass attendances and the challenges of the religious press and publishing as a whole.
Cathedral Golden Jubilee 2017
‘There were already reductions in Mass attendances back in the 70s,’ Kim continues. ‘That continual, gradual decline of people going to church meant that selling a newspaper in church, had its challenges. Looking back through our records, I found that in 1986, weekly sales seemed to be around 12,000. In 1988 sales were no more than 10,000. At the point we changed to become a monthly, free publication, we were selling 6,000 copies.’ With today’s mix of print and digital, the Pic can reach many more people. Indeed during the pandemic it was the only diocesan publication in England and Wales to come out each month in both print and online formats. ‘We now print around 13,500 to 14,000 copies,’ says Kim. ‘It’s a really strong print circulation to still have. ‘It’s also available digitally and it goes out in an e-newsletter. Since the pandemic we’ve increased engagement with parishes in terms of making sure the digital edition is circulated as widely as possibly, especially when people couldn’t go to churches.
Catholic Pictorial
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