National Press Market Round-Up – 2000
The national press market continued to decline during 2000 with overall circulation down 1.3% and readership slipping 5.5%. The popular papers were the worst affected by circulation falls while quality titles took the brunt of the fall in readership.
Popular Sunday papers suffered the worst circulation falls over the year, losing 3.4% of average annual sales compared to 1999. The popular daily market was down 2.1%. Quality newspapers, both daily and Sundays, were the only categories to report circulation increases over the period.
| January – December 2000 ABC Market Comparisons | ||||
| Daily Market | Jan-Dec’99 | Jan-Dec’00 | Actual Change | % Change YoY |
| Quality | 2,790,002 | 2,834,431 | 44,429 | 1.6 |
| Mid | 3,436,065 | 3,428,334 | -7,731 | -0.2 |
| Popular | 6,503,722 | 6,368,890 | -134,832 | -2.1 |
| Sunday Market | ||||
| Quality | 2,883,993 | 2,915,590 | 33,597 | 1.2 |
| Mid | 3,281,178 | 3,262,271 | -18,907 | -0.6 |
| Popular | 7,950,645 | 7,677,493 | -273,152 | -3.4 |
| TOTAL | 26,845,605 | 26,489,009 | -356,596 | -1.3 |
In a readership analysis, however, it was the qualities which recorded the steepest declines. The Sunday broadsheet market fell 9.1%, while quality dailies were down 7.4% in a year on year analysis. All sectors saw a drop in readership during 2000, with the daily mid-market titles showing the smallest falls, down 3.8%.
| January-December 2000 NRS Market Comparisons | ||||
| Daily Market | Jan-Dec’99 | Jan-Dec’00 | Actual Change | % Change YoY |
| Quality | 6,620,000 | 6,128,000 | -492,000 | -7.4 |
| Mid | 8,232,000 | 7,923,000 | -309,000 | -3.8 |
| Popular | 17,485,000 | 16,570,000 | -915,000 | -5.2 |
| Sunday Market | ||||
| Quality | 5,830,000 | 5,301,000 | -529,000 | -9.1 |
| Mid | 8,647,000 | 8,296,000 | -351,000 | -4.1 |
| Popular | 20,570,000 | 19,452,000 | -1,118,000 | -5.4 |
| TOTAL | 67,384,000 | 63,670,000 | -3,714,000 | -5.5 |
The trend towards decline in the national newspaper market, then, continued throughout 2000. An increased erosion of the readership base, in particular, was noted, with a fall in readers now spread across all sectors.
Quality Market Within the quality newspaper sector, the Financial Times and the Sunday Business again saw the greatest increases in circulation across the year, recording sales rises of 15.9% – or 63,000 copies -, and 9.4%, – 5,000 copies – respectively. The Observer also did well, up 6%, partly as a result of its popular Observer Sport Monthly, which boosted sales when it launched in May (see Observer Rewrites Sport With Monthly Title)
The Times recorded the greatest circulation fall amongst the broadsheets, losing 1.4% of sales, following an unpopular revamp early last year (see Newsline Brief)
| National Quality Market January-December 2000 ABC Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Jan 00 – Dec 00 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,040,259 | 1,027,369 | -12,890 | -1.2 |
| Financial Times | 399,601 | 463,337 | 63,736 | 15.9 |
| Guardian | 395,114 | 395,727 | 613 | 0.2 |
| Independent | 223,841 | 226,874 | 3,033 | 1.4 |
| Independent On Sunday | 248,759 | 248,175 | -584 | -0.2 |
| Observer | 403,839 | 428,034 | 24,195 | 6.0 |
| Sunday Business | 57,190 | 62,579 | 5,389 | 9.4 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 819,374 | 808,499 | -10,875 | -1.3 |
| Sunday Times | 1,354,831 | 1,368,303 | 13,472 | 1.0 |
| Times | 731,187 | 721,124 | -10,063 | -1.4 |
In terms of readership the Observer and the Financial Times were the only broadsheet titles to make gains, up 0.6% and 0.2% respectively. The Times was again the hardest hit, losing 15.3% of its readers, while the Sunday Telegraph also took a tumble, down 9.5%.
| National Quality Market January-December 2000 NRS Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Jan 00 – Dec 00 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Telegraph | 2,468,000 | 2,280,000 | -188,000 | -7.6 |
| Financial Times | 614,000 | 615,000 | 1,000 | 0.2 |
| Guardian | 1,105,000 | 1,102,000 | -3,000 | -0.3 |
| Independent | 587,000 | 567,000 | -20,000 | -3.4 |
| Independent On Sunday | 737,000 | 690,000 | -47,000 | -6.4 |
| Observer | 1,076,000 | 1,082,000 | 6,000 | 0.6 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,171,000 | 1,965,000 | -206,000 | -9.5 |
| Sunday Times | 3,302,000 | 3,255,000 | -47,000 | -1.4 |
| Times | 1,846,000 | 1,564,000 | -282,000 | -15.3 |
Mid-Market Across the mid-market sector the Express titles showed the effects of new owners Northern & Shell on sales: the Express lost 2.6% of its circulation, which now stands at just over the 1 million mark, while the Express on Sunday fell 2.5% in a year on year analysis. The Mail and the Mail on Sunday, meanwhile, made slight gains during 2000 and are now comfortably ahead of their mid-market rivals in terms of sales.
| National Mid Market January-December 2000 ABC Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Jan 00 – Dec 00 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Mail | 2,358,635 | 2,379,408 | 20,773 | 0.9 |
| Express | 1,077,430 | 1,048,926 | -28,504 | -2.6 |
| Express on Sunday | 991,849 | 967,328 | -24,521 | -2.5 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,289,329 | 2,294,943 | 5,614 | 0.2 |
All four titles were down in readership terms however, with the Sunday titles showing the greatest falls. The Express on Sunday fell 4.2% while the Mail on Sunday was down 4%.
| National Mid Market January-December 2000 NRS Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Jan 00 – Dec 00 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Mail | 5,820,000 | 5,605,000 | -215,000 | -3.7 |
| Express | 2,412,000 | 2,318,000 | -94,000 | -3.9 |
| Express on Sunday | 2,391,000 | 2,291,000 | -100,000 | -4.2 |
| Mail On Sunday | 6,256,000 | 6,005,000 | -251,000 | -4.0 |
Popular Market Only one tabloid title increased its circulation during 2000. The Daily Star added 1.3% to its average sales, but is still trailing behind its rivals in the sector. The Sunday Peoplelost 5.8% of its circulation base which now stands at 1.5m, while the News of the World held onto its position as sector leader with sales of over 4m, despite a 2.6% dip during 2000.
| National Popular Market January-December 2000 ABC Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Jan 00 – Dec 00 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Star | 524,037 | 531,013 | 6,976 | 1.3 |
| Mirror | 2,315,224 | 2,251,637 | -63,587 | -2.7 |
| News Of The World | 4,143,197 | 4,035,352 | -107,845 | -2.6 |
| Sun | 3,664,461 | 3,586,240 | -78,221 | -2.1 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,983,220 | 1,922,539 | -60,681 | -3.1 |
| Sunday People | 1,613,205 | 1,519,902 | -93,303 | -5.8 |
The popular market recorded a significant decline to its readership during 2000, with all titles showing falls. The Sunday People and the Daily Star loss most readers over the year, down 9.3% and 8.8% respectively.
| National Popular Market January-December 2000 NRS Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 98 – Dec 98 | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Star | 1,591,000 | 1,451,000 | -140,000 | -8.8 |
| Mirror | 6,095,000 | 5,622,000 | -473,000 | -7.8 |
| News Of The World | 10,592,000 | 10,211,000 | -381,000 | -3.6 |
| Sun | 9,799,000 | 9,497,000 | -302,000 | -3.1 |
| Sunday Mirror | 6,141,000 | 5,759,000 | -382,000 | -6.2 |
| Sunday People | 3,837,000 | 3,482,000 | -355,000 | -9.3 |
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