COUNT(*) returning multiple rows instead of just one

Question

Why does COUNT() return multiple rows when I just need the total count of how many rows my query generates?

Should return 1078.

Answer 1

Well, simple answer. Don't GROUP BY if you don't need groups.

Either use COUNT(DISTINCT articles.company) without GROUP BY or keep the the GROUP BY and wrap the whole query in a SELECT COUNT(*) FROM (...) AS data, if you want to count the groups.