NRS National Newspaper Round-Up – February 2003
The NRS figures for the last six months reflect a turbulent period for national newspaper consumption, although overall readership remained fairly static, rising 0.2% year on year.
The unfolding crisis in Iraq continued to have a positive impact on the quality broadsheet market with one notable exception; prestige pink paper, The Financial Times saw readership fall by 17.3%. The Sunday Telegraph also failed to maintain its share, declining 2.9% since last year.
The sector’s biggest riser in percentage terms was the Independent, which saw readership increase by 141,000 or 30.5% year on year. This was quite possibly the result of its high profile coverage of the war by controversial journalist, Robert Fisk. The Guardian also fared well, reaping the rewards from its comprehensive coverage of the conflict, and was up by 5.6%.
February’s NRS figures also brought good news to News International’s stable of titles. The Times saw readership leap by 13.6% and trademark pro-war red-top, The Sun enjoyed a 2% rise. However, the News Of The World experienced the biggest decline in real terms across the sector, with readership shrinking by 641,000 despite the paper’s enthusiastic support for British troops.
Richard Desmond’s tabloid, the Daily Star continued to benefit from its mix of topless women, gossip and limited coverage of the war with readership up by 25.1% to 1,937,000.
Elsewhere, the Daily Mirror, which has been under immense pressure because of its unwavering anti-war stance, experienced a 6.2% decline. However, it could well be argued that a disproportionate amount of attention is being focused on the Mirror for sticking by its principles (see Daily Mirror Under Pressure Over Anti-War Stance), given that it did not experience the biggest fall in either real or percentage terms.
Nonetheless, media analysts will be eyeing developments at Trinity Mirror for signs of a new strategy, following the departure of national newspaper chief, Mark Haysom earlier this month (see Trinity Mirror Loses Head Of National Newspapers).
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – February 2003 | ||||
| Title | Sep 01-Feb 02 | Sep 02-Feb 03 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 1,997,000 | 2,206,000 | 209,000 | 10.5 |
| Daily Mail | 5,721,000 | 5,933,000 | 212,000 | 3.7 |
| Daily Mirror | 5,661,000 | 5,310,000 | -351,000 | -6.2 |
| Daily Record | 1,588,000 | 1,498,000 | -90,000 | -5.7 |
| Daily Star | 1,548,000 | 1,937,000 | 389,000 | 25.1 |
| Daily Telegraph | 2,382,000 | 2,399,000 | 17,000 | 0.7 |
| Financial Times | 635,000 | 525,000 | -110,000 | -17.3 |
| Guardian | 1,244,000 | 1,314,000 | 70,000 | 5.6 |
| Independent | 462,000 | 603,000 | 141,000 | 30.5 |
| Independent On Sunday | 602,000 | 637,000 | 35,000 | 5.8 |
| Mail On Sunday | 6,114,000 | 6,220,000 | 106,000 | 1.7 |
| News Of The World | 10,355,000 | 9,714,000 | -641,000 | -6.2 |
| Observer | 1,197,000 | 1,257,000 | 60,000 | 5.0 |
| People | 3,050,000 | 2,692,000 | -358,000 | -11.7 |
| Sun | 9,112,000 | 9,297,000 | 185,000 | 2.0 |
| Sunday Express | 2,223,000 | 2,187,000 | -36,000 | -1.6 |
| Sunday Mirror | 5,341,000 | 5,103,000 | -238,000 | -4.5 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,133,000 | 2,072,000 | -61,000 | -2.9 |
| Sunday Times | 3,030,000 | 3,387,000 | 357,000 | 11.8 |
| Times | 1,709,000 | 1,941,000 | 232,000 | 13.6 |
| Total | 66,104,000 | 66,232,000 | 128,000 | 0.2 |
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