[Bell Historians] Circulation history

[John Harrison]

I'm interested in how the circulation of Ringing World (and Bell News)
varied over the years?

So far I have established the rough post war rise and fall:

1950 -  5k 
1960 - 5.5k
1970 - 6k
1980 - 5.5k
...
2000 - 3.8k
...
Today 2.5k (2k paper) 

I found some earlier some indirect hints at numbers.  Throughout the
inter-war period Goldsmith appealed for more circulation, and in
particular for individual to have a subscription rather than taking one
copy up the tower.  

* In 1921 he said:  'If only every-ringer affiliated to an association
could be induced to take an individual copy, the sale would be increased
more than three-fold'.

Assume that more than three fold means between 3 & 3.5 times, because for
more than 3.5 he would probably have said nearly four fold.  

There are currently between 30k and 35k ringers.  In 1914 ODG membership
was 87% of what it is now and (based on my branch of ODG) had a similar
number after the war.  If that's representative of ringers as a whole then
there would have been between 25k and 30k ringers in 1921.

Combining the two figures suggests a circulation of between 7k and 10k
subscribers, well above the 1960 figure.   

* There was a lot of discussion in the 1930s about the need to increase
the circulation.  The only figure mentioned was in 1932 he said that: 'the
additional circnlation that would be needed to enlarge  the paper ... was
at least 3,500 per week'.  
                   
The paper was 16 pages in 1932 so the minimum increase of 4 pages, would
be 25%.  But there are too many other variables to work back to the actual
circulation.

Any thoughts?

-- 
John Harrison - Bellringer at All Saints, Wokingham
Tower website: http://allsaintswokinghambells.org.uk

The Europeans invest to provide value.  The Anglo Saxons only invest to reduce costs. (Sir Alister Morton, Chairman of EuroTunnel)