National Newspaper ABCs – Sept 2014

Daily titles

September saw a mixed set of results for national newspaper circulations, although no daily titles recorded any significant change either way.

Up 3.3% period on period (PoP), the Financial Times recorded the highest increase in circulation in September – adding an extra 6,900 copies – followed by the Guardian which was up 1.6% to bag an extra 2,900.

Elsewhere in the quality market, the Independent, ‘i’ and The Times all recorded growth under 1%, PoP, while the Daily Telegraph was down -1.2% PoP to lose 6,400 copies on the previous month.

However, it was the Sun that saw the greatest decrease in circulation in September, down -4.2% PoP to lose almost 80,000 copies.

Next hardest hit was the Daily Express, with a -2.3% PoP decline losing the paper 11,000 copies.

Although marginal, a 0.8% PoP increase in circulation netted the Daily Mail an extra 13,900 copies; however, as with all other daily titles, the paper recorded a yearly decline in circulation.

The hardest hit titles over the year were the Daily Record (-14.5%), the Daily Star (-14.2%) and the Daily Express (-10.8%).

Overall national daily titles were down -1.3% PoP and -7.7% year on year (YoY).

London Free Press

There was a change of fortune for London’s free newspaper titles in September, with all recording growth over the month.

City A.M. managed to increase its circulation by 5.1% PoP, adding 5,500 copies, while a 1.5% PoP increase for the London Evening Standard gained it an extra 12,800.

Although slightly less notable, Metro (London) still managed a small 0.1% PoP increase, boosting its circulation by a little under 400 copies.

As is usual, City A.M. and Metro (London) were down over the year, while the Evening Standard, after extending its print run, was up almost 29% to add an extra 195,700 copies.

Overall the Free Press market was up 1.1% PoP and 11.5% YoY.

Sunday titles

In the Sunday market, all but one title was down over the period and every title was down year on year.

Standing on its own, The Sunday Times was the only paper to record any growth throughout the month, up 1.1% PoP (9,165 copies) to record a total circulation of more than 812,000.

Over the last year the title was down only 1.4%, making it the most resilient in the entire market.

In the quality market, the month’s worst performer was the Sunday Telegraph, down -2.2% (-9,000 copies). However, the paper still sells almost 396,000 copies each week.

The Independent on Sunday was next hardest hit, down -2.1% (-2,217 copies). The paper now records a total circulation of just over 102,000 (down -6.9% YoY).

Meanwhile, The Observer was down only -0.4% (-734 copies) and shifts a little over 200,000 each weekend.

In the mid-market, there was little change for the Mail on Sunday. The title was down just -0.7% – although, given the popularity of the paper, this translated as a drop of over 10,400 copies.

Year on year, the Mail on Sunday has dropped -8.1% but is still the UK’s second best-selling paper, flogging over 1.5 million copies each weekend.

The worst performer in the mid-market was the Sunday Express, down -2.9% PoP, losing over 12,400 copies.

In the popular market, the Daily Star Sunday was hit hardest with a -3% drop (-9,000), followed by The Sunday People with a -2.6% drop (-9,700).

The UK’s most popular Sunday paper, the Sun on Sunday, is still dropping in sales – the title was down -1.3% PoP and -11.4% YoY – but still sells almost 1.7 million copies.

Overall, the Sunday market was down -1.2% in September and -9.6% over the year.

Daily Titles	Sep-13	Aug-14	Sep-14	YoY Actual Change	YoY % Change	PoP Actual Change	PoP % Change
Quality
Daily Telegraph	550,023	511,857	505,473	-44,550	-8.1	-6,384	-1.2
Financial Times	241,884	210,182	217,121	-24,763	-10.2	6,939	3.3
Guardian	197,542	177,827	180,731	-16,811	-8.5	2,904	1.6
i	296,699	285,902	286,833	-9,866	-3.3	931	0.3
Independent	69,388	62,568	63,135	-6,253	-9.0	567	0.9
Times	393,978	396,671	399,915	5,937	1.5	3,244	0.8
Mid Market
Daily Express	524,944	479,017	467,994	-56,950	-10.8	-11,023	-2.3
Daily Mail	1,777,780	1,678,728	1,692,610	-85,170	-4.8	13,882	0.8
Popular
Daily Mirror	1,025,970	960,964	951,179	-74,791	-7.3	-9,785	-1.0
Daily Record	246,615	212,182	210,858	-35,757	-14.5	-1,324	-0.6
Daily Star	538,751	471,630	462,491	-76,260	-14.2	-9,139	-1.9
Sun	2,213,084	2,108,387	2,019,032	-194,052	-8.8	-89,355	-4.2
Total Daily	8,076,658	7,555,915	7,457,372	-619,286	-7.7	-98,543	-1.3

London Free Press	Sep-13	Aug-14	Sep-14	YoY Actual Change	YoY % Change	PoP Actual Change	PoP % Change
City A.M	127,334	108,315	113,862	-13,472	-10.6	5,547	5.1
London Evening Standard	686,440	869,335	882,148	195,708	28.5	12,813	1.5
Metro (London)	765,791	764,073	764,463	-1,328	-0.2	390	0.1
Total London Press	1,579,565	1,741,723	1,760,473	180,908	11.5	18,750	1.1

Sunday Titles	Sep-13	Aug-14	Sep-14	YoY Actual Change	YoY % Change	PoP Actual Change	PoP % Change
Quality
Independent On Sunday	109,901	104,488	102,271	-7,630	-6.9	-2,217	-2.1
Observer	223,948	200,953	200,219	-23,729	-10.6	-734	-0.4
Sunday Times	823,696	803,097	812,262	-11,434	-1.4	9,165	1.1
Sunday Telegraph	440,388	404,546	395,581	-44,807	-10.2	-8,965	-2.2
Mid Market
Mail On Sunday	1,644,864	1,522,110	1,511,682	-133,182	-8.1	-10,428	-0.7
Sunday Express	464,358	426,899	414,497	-49,861	-10.7	-12,402	-2.9
Sunday Post	242,037	214,781	211,457	-30,580	-12.6	-3,324	-1.5
Popular
Daily Star Sunday	350,431	303,529	294,541	-55,890	-15.9	-8,988	-3.0
Sunday People	414,969	379,779	370,048	-44,921	-10.8	-9,731	-2.6
Sun on Sunday	1,876,476	1,684,101	1,662,163	-214,313	-11.4	-21,938	-1.3
Sunday Mail	283,493	240,100	235,316	-48,177	-17.0	-4,784	-2.0
Sunday Mirror	1,037,945	954,309	942,265	-95,680	-9.2	-12,044	-1.3
Total Sunday	7,912,506	7,238,692	7,152,302	-760,204	-9.6	-86,390	-1.2

Daily Titles	Apr 13 – Sep 13	Feb 14 – Jul 14	Apr 14 – Sep 14	YoY Actual Change	YoY % Change	PoP Actual Change	PoP % Change
Quality
Daily Telegraph	551,218	516,613	512,807	-38,411	-7.0	-3,806	-0.7
Financial Times	250,533	220,238	217,663	-32,870	-13.1	-2,575	-1.2
Guardian	192,265	186,425	183,766	-8,499	-4.4	-2,659	-1.4
i	301,258	288,372	286,809	-14,449	-4.8	-1,563	-0.5
Independent	72,238	63,115	63,035	-9,203	-12.7	-80	-0.1
Times	395,010	395,958	396,551	1,541	0.4	593	0.1
Mid Market
Daily Express	527,093	483,546	478,888	-48,205	-9.1	-4,658	-1.0
Daily Mail	1,793,116	1,698,469	1,690,669	-102,447	-5.7	-7,800	-0.5
Popular
Daily Mirror	1,038,565	961,042	958,352	-80,213	-7.7	-2,690	-0.3
Daily Record	Dec-89	May-93	May-85	-38,187	-15.2	-2,900	-1.3
Daily Star	539,578	473,022	469,150	-70,428	-13.1	-3,872	-0.8
Sun	2,255,785	2,080,918	2,062,153	-193,632	-8.6	-18,765	-0.9
Total Daily	8,168,665	7,584,437	7,533,662	-635,003	-7.8	-50,775	-0.7

Sunday Titles	Apr 13 – Sep 13	Feb 14 – Jul 14	Apr 14 – Sep 14	YoY Actual Change	YoY % Change	PoP Actual Change	PoP % Change
Quality
Independent On Sunday	112,177	101,989	101,956	-10,221	-9.1	-33	-0.0
Observer	219,891	207,240	204,186	-15,705	-7.1	-3,054	-1.5
Sunday Times	842,523	823,824	816,848	-25,675	-3.0	-6,976	-0.8
Sunday Telegraph	429,600	408,466	403,395	-26,205	-6.1	-5,071	-1.2
Mid Market
Sunday Express	464,935	425,303	422,144	-42,791	-9.2	-3,159	-0.7
Mail On Sunday	1,663,877	1,542,547	1,530,891	-132,986	-8.0	-11,656	-0.8
Sunday Post	240,457	209,924	211,864	-28,593	-11.9	1,940	0.9
Popular
Daily Star Sunday.	339,306	294,863	295,297	-44,009	-13.0	434	0.1
Sunday People	418,239	375,360	374,089	-44,150	-10.6	-1,271	-0.3
Sun on Sunday	1,894,116	1,693,103	1,676,561	-217,555	-11.5	-16,542	-1.0
Sunday Mail	286,544	241,523	238,107	-48,437	-16.9	-3,416	-1.4
Sunday Mirror	1,040,923	935,167	935,575	-105,348	-10.1	408	0.0
Total Sunday	7,952,588	7,259,309	7,210,912	-741,676	-9.3	-48,397	-0.7