Readership Slump Could Fuel Tabloid Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph saw its readership slump by 8.5% year on year to just under 2.2 million in the six months to February, in a development that could push the newspaper closer to launching a tabloid edition.
Rumours have been circulating that the newspaper could be the third broadsheet to go tabloid with £8 million rumoured to be set aside for a compact launch. Telegraph managing director, Hugo Drayton, said that uncertainty about the paper’s future would not get in the way of the launch, but emphasised that nothing has been decided.
The latest NRS figures for the six months to January also reveal widespread dips across the newspaper industry with several newspapers struggling to make increases amid an ongoing downward trend.
The Times was the worst hit with a 16.7% year on year decrease in readership in the six months to February. The newspaper recently embarked on a promotions marathon, securing a multi million pound deal to be sold in Starbucks coffee houses and pushing its sports coverage with several outdoor campaigns (see Times Promotes Sport Section With Outdoor Push).
Also hit by the readership downturn was the Daily Mirror. The paper slumped by 12.4%, haemorrhaging over 650,000 readers in real terms. The newspaper’s parent company, Trinity Mirror, recently announced plans to raise the coverprice of the flagship tabloid by 3p to 35p. The company also claimed that its national newspapers were beginning to see an improvement in advertising revenue (see Daily Mirror Coverprice To Rise As Group Profits Increase).
News International’s Sun fared slightly better than its main tabloid rival with readership slipping by a comparatively minor 4.6% and dropping just over 430,000 readers in real terms to 8,865,000.
Similarly Trinity Mirror’s People made a poor effort to increase its readership during February. The title struggled to gain momentum and saw readership slip by 11.4% to just under 2.4 million.
Only six national newspapers managed a rise in readership during February with the Independent on Sunday leading the way. The newspaper notched up a 17.9% year on year increase to 751,000 The Sunday Express also saw a modest increase, pushing readership levels up by 5.7% to just over 2.3 million.
The Independent saw the third biggest increase during February, with readership rising by 4% to 627,000. The paper appears to have benefited from its tabloid rebirth and speculation is mounting that the broadsheet edition may soon be ditched in favour of a full-time tabloid format. Last month the newspaper published in tabloid-only format for a Budget special, further fuelling rumours of the broadsheet’s imminent demise (see Independent Ditches Broadsheet For Budget Special).
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Subscribers can access the full NRS National Newspaper Round-Up for February 2004 in the Press reports section on the left.