Newspaper ABCs: June a bumper month for Guardian and Observer

Daily Market

The the Guardian enjoyed a 3.8% boost to its circulation in June, while the rest of the daily newspaper market remained relatively flat. (Our hunch is that free copies of both the Guardian and the Observer were dished out at summer festivals).

The quality title currently has a total circulation of 159,000 – although it’s down -7.4% compared with the same time last year.

The i also reported a small 1.5% period-on-period increase to its circulation; however, similar to the Guardian, sales were down -7.9% year-on-year.

Also in the quality market, the Telegraph was up 1% compared with the previous month, while The Times was up 0.3%. The Times was also up 2.1% year-on-year – one of only two daily titles, alongside Metro (+9.8%), to record a yearly increase in circulation.

The Daily Record and Financial Times recorded the biggest declines in circulation over the period – although these were small (-1.1% and -1.3%, respectively).

The Daily Star reported the biggest yearly decline, down -17% – closely followed by the Daily Mirror (-16.9%).

Overall the daily market was down by just -0.1% period-on-period and -6% year-on-year.

Sunday Market

June was a bumper month for the Observer, which bucked all trends and recorded an 8.6% boost in circulation – shifting an extra 15,219 editions.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times was down -1.3%, a drop of more than 10,800 copies on May.

Elsewhere in the quality market, the Sunday Telegraph remained static. All three titles were down, year-on-year, however.

Elsewhere there were no major surprises. Both the Daily Star and Sunday People recorded small circulation boosts – 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively – while the worst performing title in June was the Sunday Mail, down -2.5%.

The Sunday Express was also down (-2%), as was the Sunday Mirror (-1.3%).

Overall, the entire Sunday market recorded a decline of -0.3% in June, and was down -10.8% year-on-year.

London Free Press

The London Evening Standard managed to boost its circulation by 0.4% – an extra 4,000 copies – in June, proving that new editor George Osborne is capable of retaining readers with his political scoops.

The title currently dishes out a little under 907,300 copies – a slight drop of -0.3% on the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Metro (London) was down -0.1%, but was up a huge 17.4% year-on-year, while City A.M. was up 0.4% in June, but down -6.5% year on year. It has a current circulation of 91,300.

Overall the London free market was up 1.2% PoP and a healthy 7% YoY.