National Newspaper ABCs: May 2014

Daily titles

Independent Print’s ‘i’ was the only daily title to record any growth in the latest ABC results showing circulation figures for the national newspapers.

In what was a tough month for the industry, the ‘i’ still only secured a 0.6% growth rate from April, amounting to just 1,628 copies. Over the year, the title was down -5.8%, or -17,744 copies.

The paper’s sister title, The Independent, which was down -1.4% month on month, saw a much more serious -16.8% yearly decline in circulation. The paper has dropped more than 12,000 copies in the last 12 months to reach an average circulation figure of 62,640.

Similarly, the Financial Times saw a troublesome -14% yearly drop amounting to almost 36,000 copies. Month on month, the broadsheet was down only 1.6%.

Meanwhile, The hardest hit daily this month was The Guardian, down -2.5% (-4,786 copies). However, over the year, the paper was down only -2.8% to secure an average circulation of 186,931.

In the mid-market, both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail recorded declines in growth. The Daily Express lost 5,898 copies (-1.2%) whilst the Daily Mail was down 12,507 (-0.7%). The Daily Mail is still in rude health, however, with an average circulation above 1.7 million.

Every title in the popular market saw small monthly drops with the Daily Mirror hit hardest at -1.6% (-15,121 copies). Over the course of the year, the Daily Record was the worst performer, down -14.6% (37,164 copies).

Overall, the total daily market was down only -0.9% on the previous month and down -7.3% year on year.

London Free Press

It was a fairly flat month for the ordinarily stronger-performing London free press. Only the Metro recorded growth, up only 0.9% (6,238 copies), whilst the London Evening Standard saw no change during the month and City A.M was down just 0.2% (-198 copies).

Overall, the market was up 0.4%, month on month, and up 10.8% over the last year.

Sunday titles

There were mixed fortunes in the Sunday market in May, with The Sunday Times one of the few winners. The paper was up 1.7% on April – a healthy 14,124 copies – and was up 0.2% over the year. It’s total circulation was recorded at 844,528.

Similarly, the Observer recorded a 1.6% monthly increase, up 3,412 copies. However, the title was down over the year by 12,415 copies, a -5.6% drop.

Every title in the mid-market was down in May. The Mail on Sunday dropping -1.1%, the Sunday Express dropping -1.2% and the Sunday Post down -0.8%.

In the popular Sunday market, three out of the five titles recorded slight growth over the month, no higher than 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Sunday Mail was down -0.3% while the Sun on Sunday was down -0.8%.

Overall, the Sunday market was down only -0.3% in May and -7.8% over the year.

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