National Newspaper ABC Round-Up – September 1998

Quality Market In September, circulation across the broadsheet market was down by 3.3% to 5.63 million copies – a loss of 191,000 copies on April-September 1997. The drop in the quality market’s circulation was spread fairly evenly across the papers, with only the Financial Times and the Sunday Times recording any increase at all.
The Daily Telegraph lost over 40,000 copies year on year, and the Independent continues to slump – down by 16.25% to a circulation of 220,000. In the quality Sunday market, the Observer and the Sunday Telegraph both lost almost 55,000 copies year on year. The Observer last month appointed John Mulholland as its deputy editor; he was previously media editor at The Guardian (see John Mulholland Returns To Guardian Media Group). The Independent On Sunday‘s circulation fell from 282,019 to 255,811.
Quality Market Apr-Sep ’98 Year on Year ABC Comparisons
Title | Apr 97 – Sep 97 | Apr 98 – Sep 98 | Actual Change | % Change |
Daily Telegraph | 1,110,816 | 1,067,984 | -42,832 | -3.86 |
Financial Times | 319,766 | 356,549 | 36,783 | 11.5 |
Guardian | 410,641 | 394,614 | -16,027 | -3.9 |
Independent | 263,716 | 220,853 | -42,863 | -16.25 |
Independent On Sunday | 282,019 | 255,811 | -26,208 | -9.29 |
Observer | 455,779 | 402,314 | -53,465 | -11.73 |
Sunday Telegraph | 890,915 | 836,232 | -54,683 | -6.14 |
Sunday Times | 1,330,542 | 1,339,640 | 9,098 | 0.68 |
Times | 761,040 | 759,290 | -1,750 | -0.23 |
TOTAL | 5,825,234 | 5,633,287 | -191,947 | -3.3 |
Mid Market As with previous months, the mid market story remains the same year on year: the Mail titles continue to improve circulation at the expense of the two Express newspapers. This pattern is also true month on month, where the Mail On Sunday reported the largest circulation growth across all the national newspapers. At the same time, however, the paper’s editor, Jonathon Holborrow, was dismissed at the end of September.
As admitted by the Mirror Group last week, the Mirror has for the first time fallen behind the Daily Mail in terms of circulation. During September the Mail sold 2.42 million copies, compared to the Mirror‘s 2.38 million.
Overall the mid market’s circulation remained steady at 6.76 million copies sold.
Mid Market Apr-Sep ’98 Year on Year ABC Comparisons
Title | Apr 97 – Sep 97 | Apr 98 – Sep 98 | Actual Change | % Change |
Daily Mail | 2,211,673 | 2,325,523 | 113,850 | 5.15 |
Express | 1,224,850 | 1,142,063 | -82,787 | -6.76 |
Express On Sunday | 1,169,844 | 1,051,432 | -118,412 | -10.12 |
Mail On Sunday | 2,179,269 | 2,242,651 | 63,382 | 2.91 |
TOTAL | 6,785,636 | 6,761,669 | -23,967 | -0.4 |
Popular Market The popular market continues to decline in this set of ABC figures, both year on year and month on month, although the losses are relatively slight. Overall, the market dropped by almost 830,000 copies compared to April-September 1997. However, this only accounts for 5.7% of the market.
The biggest was suffered by the Sunday Mirror, down by 12.2%, taking its circulation to just over two million. The News Of The World continues to lead the market, with sales of 4.23 million; the Sun sold an average of 3.69 million copies a day between April and September.
Popular Market Apr-Sep ’98 ABC Year on Year Comparisons
Title | Apr 97 – Sep 97 | Apr 98 – Sep 98 | Actual Change | % Change |
Daily Star | 734,431 | 660,181 | -74,250 | -10.11 |
Mirror | 2,369,351 | 2,347,058 | -22,293 | -0.94 |
News Of The World | 4,422,633 | 4,232,935 | -189,698 | -4.29 |
Sun | 3,834,892 | 3,694,465 | -140,427 | -3.66 |
Sunday Mirror | 2,290,518 | 2,010,474 | -280,044 | -12.23 |
Sunday People | 1,924,541 | 1,742,922 | -181,619 | -9.44 |
TOTAL | 15,576,366 | 14,688,035 | -888,331 | -5.7 |
National Newspaper August 1998 Month on Month ABC Comparisons
Title | Aug98 | Sep98 | Actual Change | % Ch |
Daily Mail | 2,312,285 | 2,421,319 | 109,034 | 4.72 |
Daily Star | 664,233 | 661,750 | -2,483 | -0.37 |
Daily Telegraph | 1,064,813 | 1,068,760 | 3,947 | 0.37 |
Express | 1,151,583 | 1,147,581 | -4,002 | -0.35 |
Express On Sunday | 1,072,858 | 1,057,071 | -15,787 | -1.47 |
Financial Times | 358,019 | 351,969 | -6,050 | -1.69 |
Guardian | 380,857 | 400,377 | 19,520 | 5.13 |
Independent | 221,915 | 222,500 | 585 | 0.26 |
Independent On Sunday | 256,826 | 257,773 | 947 | 0.37 |
Mail On Sunday | 2,224,776 | 2,413,584 | 188,808 | 8.49 |
Mirror | 2,377,782 | 2,380,824 | 3,042 | 0.13 |
News Of The World | 4,294,318 | 4,265,006 | -29,312 | -0.68 |
Observer | 387,342 | 405,545 | 18,203 | 4.7 |
Sun | 3,707,471 | 3,730,402 | 22,931 | 0.62 |
Sunday Mirror | 2,019,928 | 1,983,507 | -36,421 | -1.8 |
Sunday People | 1,775,252 | 1,756,478 | -18,774 | -1.06 |
Sunday Telegraph | 842,055 | 850,991 | 8,936 | 1.06 |
Sunday Times | 1,322,537 | 1,400,992 | 78,455 | 5.93 |
Times | 739,285 | 777,355 | 38,070 | 5.15 |
TOTAL | 27,174,135 | 27,553,784 | 379,649 | 1.4 |
As the methodology for national newspaper supplements changed in July 1998, ABC advises caution when comparing figures for national newspapers and their supplements with earlier periods which were audited under the old rules.
Industry News Viscount Rothermere, proprietor of the Daily Mail, Mail On Sunday and the London Evening Standard, died at the age of 73 after a heart attack on 1 September 1998.
The Mirror Group restored Colin Myler to editor of the Sunday Mirror; he was previously editor of the paper between October 1992 and April 1994. The Mirror Group also launched a new sales initiative which will sell across all its national and regional newspapers.
The new editor of the The Observer, Roger Alton, instigated 17 redundancies at the Sunday paper, claiming they were ‘necessary cost cuts’.