NRS national Mewspaper Round-Up – May 2004
The Independent‘s decision to drop its broadsheet format in favour of the new commuter friendly compact helped the title see readership increase by an impressive 15.8% year on year during May to just below the 700,000 mark.
However, the latest NRS national newspaper figures reveal a slightly less impressive performance for the Times, which suffered a sharp 20.4% decline during the same period to 1,537,000. However, research carried out by the paper shows that the recently launched compact edition is proving successful in attracting young, upmarket readers to the Times brand (see Compact Times Proves Successful In Attracting New Readers).
The Guardian also performed poorly with its readership shrinking by 23.2% year on year during May to just above the million mark. However, the title is hoping to transform its fortunes by adopting the Berliner size and shape used in France by Le Monde and recently embraced by former tabloid Les Echos preserves.
The £50 million initiative will also transform the Observer, which saw its readership dip by 2.9% during May to 1,117,000. However, this was eclipsed by a sharper 7.1% downturn for the Independent on Sunday, which retains the traditional broadsheet format (see Guardian Takes Titles Compact With £50 Million Investment).
Meanwhile, things were also decidedly gloomy in the tabloid sector, with the Daily Mirror seeing its readership dip 3.4% lower as it struggled to recover from the damage inflicted by Piers Morgan’s decision to print hoax pictures allegedly showing British troops abusing Iraqi prisoners (see Sacked Daily Mirror Editor Could Demand Compensation).
The paper recently chose Richard Wallace, former deputy editor of the Sunday Mirror, to take the helm of its flagship tabloid, after Morgan was sacked for refused for refusing to issue a full apology for publishing the pictures (see Sacked Daily Mirror Editor Could Demand Compensation).
News International’s Sun also failed to shine with readership dipping 0.2% lower to 5,013,000 during May. Even Richard Desmond’s Daily Star was not immune to the malaise gripping the sector, with readership slumping by 7.7% to just below 2 million. However, News of the World strengthened its position as the UK’s most widely read newspaper with a slight 0.3% year on year increase to 9,613,000.
Richard Desmond’s Daily Express saw its readership decline by 4.3% in the mid-market to 2,089,000. This was overshadowed by a more severe 10.4% drop for Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail. Both the Sunday Express and the Mail on Sunday saw readership increase during the same period.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – May 2004 | ||||
| Title | Oct 02-May 03 | Oct 03-May 04 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 2,182,000 | 2,089,000 | -4.3 | |
| Daily Mail | 6,045,000 | 5,415,000 | -10.4 | |
| Daily Mirror | 5,190,000 | 5,013,000 | -3.4 | |
| Daily Record | 1,478,000 | 1,454,000 | -1.6 | |
| Daily Star | 2,063,000 | 1,904,000 | -7.7 | |
| Daily Star Sunday | 1,029,000 | 1,160,000 | n/a | |
| Daily Telegraph | 2,446,000 | 2,202,000 | -10.0 | |
| Financial Times | 501,000 | 472,000 | -5.8 | |
| Guardian | 1,365,000 | 1,049,000 | -23.2 | |
| Independent | 601,000 | 696,000 | 15.8 | |
| Independent On Sunday | 723,000 | 672,000 | -7.1 | |
| Mail On Sunday | 6,165,000 | 6,123,000 | -0.7 | |
| News Of The World | 9,589,000 | 9,613,000 | 0.3 | |
| Observer | 1,150,000 | 1,117,000 | -2.9 | |
| People | 2,610,000 | 2,427,000 | -7.0 | |
| Sun | 8,977,000 | 8,959,000 | -0.2 | |
| Sunday Express | 2,185,000 | 2,248,000 | 2.9 | |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,936,000 | 5,159,000 | 4.5 | |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,092,000 | 2,075,000 | -0.8 | |
| Sunday Times | 3,300,000 | 3,284,000 | -0.5 | |
| Times | 1,932,000 | 1,537,000 | -20.4 | |
| Total | 66,559,000 | 64,668,000 | -1,891,000 | -2.8 |
