Today, Mike Darcey, CEO of News UK, calls on industry analysts and experts to consider a new way of measuring newspaper sales performance by establishing a metric that aggregates and de-duplicates readership, not only for print but across all paid-for publishing platforms including website, mobile and tablet, thus giving equal value to print and digital consumers.

Hailing a new era for news, Darcey, said: “Today, I want to explain how newspapers can do more than simply survive in the 21^st century, they can thrive.

“The digital revolution has certainly provided some major challenges for the news industry. But, rather than marking our demise, it is now heralding a new age for news, where we can deliver to our customers, greater choice, functionality and convenience than ever before.”

Speaking at the Enders Analysis Media & Telecoms 2014 Conference in central London, Darcey, remarked: “The relentless focus on print sales alone is misleading, myopic and, I think, causes some to make strategic mis-steps.”

He explained that no other industry disregards its on-line sales in the same way as the newspaper industry. Using examples from the music and book publishing industries, Darcey highlighted the distorted reality of the current situation where only print sales are recognised within the newspaper industry.

Darcey also set out his view on the choices facing the industry: “Ultimately I believe the industry faces a choice between two different models for the future of professional journalism. On the one hand, a free-to-digital model, which ultimately becomes a free, digital-only model. This is probably sustainable, but the amount of revenue available is modest, and so I believe the scale of the operation will also be modest.

“The alternative is a model based on deep engagement with customers – providing them with a quality, distinctive content bundle, centred on news, delivered in a range of flexible formats, and is rooted in a paid-for proposition.”

Proving success for the latter approach taken by News UK, Darcey reiterated the fact that The Sun crossed the 100,000 digital subscriber milestone, in only four months from August last year, one-third of the time it took the Times from 2010 when it launched its paid-for model.

Darcey also called for engagement measurements to be part of the mix, for example digital dwell times, to improve visibility of the digital market for advertisers in particular.

Showing confidence in the future of the newspaper industry and to illustrate News UK’s view that the future is bright for the paid-for digital model, Darcey shared insights into average dwell times. Tablet reader dwell times are on average 40 minutes for The Times and 55 minutes for The Sunday Times which compare favourably with print reader dwell times of 44 minutes for The Times and 92 minutes with The Sunday Times.

With figures showing that The Times and Sunday Times have more than 153,000 paying digital subscribers and a further 207,000 print subscribers, Darcey also challenged the notion that printed newspapers will soon disappear. The key fact is that for The Times at least, advertising money is leaving more slowly than the print audience is declining. Advertisers with News UK titles are taking into account the value of both a committed print and tablet readers as they are offered both formats through News UK’s “one-sell” approach.

He concluded his speech by saying: “The technology that was once viewed as causing the demise of newspapers is now providing the foundation for new growth and greater engagement than ever.

“So, let’s hear no more about the death of newspapers, let’s celebrate the future of news brands.

“Our industry is entering a new age, but it’s exciting, and not one we should be scared of.”