OSLO, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The latest readership figures show that the trend of declined printed newspaper circulation in Norway continues while the online and mobile editions increase, public broadcaster NRK reported on Tuesday.
During the first six months this year the total readership of Norwegian printed newspaper experienced a decline of 10 percent in comparison to the same period last year, according to TNS Gallup's Consumer & Media survey, the only multimedia survey in Norway.
At the same time, online newspapers increased by almost four percent, while mobile readership remained stable, the survey said.
Last week there were several reports about cuts in Norwegian media houses. Leading newspaper Aftenposten will cut 40 full-time positions.
Adresseavisen, the oldest newspaper in Norway, will remove between 60 and 75 jobs next year. Polaris Media, which the newspaper belongs to, will save 300 million kroner (36.16 million U.S. dollars) in this way, NRK reported.
The cause of the hard times in media houses is the decline in printed media readership, which also led to the decrease of advertising revenues, the survey said. The digital growth, on the other side, is not big enough to contain this leak.
According to the research, eight out of ten Norwegians over 12 years old read news either on paper, online or mobile devices. Randi S. Ogrey, CEO of the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association, showed satisfaction with the results.
"The numbers show that Norwegian journalism stands strong. The paper reading continues to fall, but we see also that online and mobile readership keep up," Ogrey said, adding that the research "shows that the readers are interested in getting Norwegian media content."
Aftenposten is the biggest printed newspaper in Norway. VG is the biggest media house when combining readership of publishing platforms, according to the survey.
