Sunshine Coast Daily

On 7 July 1980, Provincial Newspapers Queensland used the presence it had been building up on the Sunshine Coast through the purchase of various weeklies in the 1970s, combined with the 1964 purchase of the Nambour Chronicle (another local Sunshine Coast newspaper) to launch a new publication, published from Maroochydore,[4] the Sunshine Coast Daily. The Sunshine Coast Daily steadily became a strong performer, building its circulation to 21,052 by September 1992 in a region with a population of 125,000.[4] It gave fierce competition to the long-established Brisbane daily, the Courier Mail.[4] The success of the Sunshine Coast Daily acquisition was reflective in Provincial Newspaper Queensland's annual net profit. In 1985 its annual net profit increased from $1,919,000 in 1980 to $4,510,000.[5] In 1987–88, its final year of operation as Provincial Newspaper's Queensland, profit was $4million.[5]

In June 2016, the sale of Australian Regional Media to News Corp was approved by 99.94% of shareholders who voted, not including News Limited and its associated shareholders.[6] In June 2016, Australian Regional Media was sold to News Corp Australia for $36.6 million.[7]

In May 2020, due to the already challenged regional newspaper sector suffering from significant declines in advertising spend before the COVID-19 crisis and even more significant advertising booking cancellations caused by the pandemic,[8] NewsCorp Australia to enter discussions to sell their regional newspaper publication.

NewsCorp was in discussion with Australian Community Media to reach an agreement on the sale of the portfolio of more than 100 regional and community newspapers. However, on 12 May 2020, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said the talks with Australian Community Media had failed to result in a sale.[8]

The website follows the same format as the former print version. All members of the public can access the titles and blurbs of the major news articles of the day on the website however access to the articles on the website are only accessible to people who purchase the unlimited digital access Sunshine Coast Daily subscription. The subscription rate is $1 a week for the first four weeks and $7 a week thereafter.[12] This subscription allows users unlimited digital access on any device, access to apps and unrestricted digital access to the Courier Mail.[12]

In September 2016, the Sunshine Coast Daily launched an app for readers to access major news stories online rather than in print.[13] The app is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. It is compatible with ioS and Android. There have been multiple updates to the app since its production in 2016 which have allowed users to access the major articles of the day from their smart device.

The Digital Edition of the Sunshine Coast Daily is an online flip book. It was launched in 2016[13] and aims to replicate the print version of the publication. When the digital edition was initially launched it was a four-page interactive digital edition[13] highlighting major stories as they would have appeared in paper. As of July 2020, due to positive feedback from locals, the digital edition is sixteen pages and also features nation and world news, puzzles, horoscopes, shares, TV guides and cartoons.[13]