ABC National Newspaper Round-Up – March 2005

Daily Newspaper Market

The nation’s daily national newspapers saw a dip in circulation year on year during March, with the sector’s total declining by 3.7%. The downturn, caused by wide ranging declines in all but the Quality sector, was bucked only by compact titles, The Times and The Independent, with respective year on year rises of 1.8% and 0.2%.

The Times remains the nation’s best selling compact title, with a total circulation of almost 671,000. The Independent, meanwhile, has a circulation of 258,505.

Declines in circulation during March were most significant in the Popular sector, with the Daily Mirror shedding the most sales, down 9.7% year on year, to see its total rest at just over 1.7 million. This decline was echoed by principal tabloid rival, The Sun, which dipped by 2.5% in the same period, but remained the nation’s best selling daily newspaper with a circulation of over 3.2 million.

Quality Daily Titles

Compact newspapers, The Independent and The Times, were the only daily titles to see a rise in March, according to the latest round of ABC results, notching up increases of 0.2% and 1.8% respectively. The papers’ rivals in the Quality sector were all well into single figure percentage decline year on year, as circulations across the daily newspaper industry as a whole saw a slip.

The Financial Times bore the brunt of the decline amongst the Quality titles, shedding 3.3% year on year. The paper now commands sales of 433,858, although this is still some way above rivals The Guardian and The Independent.

The Daily Telegraph remains the nation’s best selling Quality title, with total sales of just over 900,000. However, the paper has seen a decline of 1.7% year on year in the last month. The Telegraph recently announced the next phase in its redundancy drive, with 15 journalists forced from their jobs, with a further 75 having already opted to take the company’s voluntary redundancy package (see Telegraph Sheds More Staff In Redundancy Drive).

Elsewhere, the Guardian also saw a dip in its sales, losing 2.5% over the same period to just over 367,000. However, the coming months should see the paper switch to its much-discussed Berliner format, half way between traditional broadsheet and tabloid formats. The move will be made in an effort to replicate the success of compact titles, The Independent and The Times (see Guardian To Downsize In Autumn).

Mid Market Daily Titles

March saw the nation’s daily Mid Market titles suffer downturns, although these were minor, with the Daily Express‘ circulation dipping by 0.3% year on year, while the Daily Mail fell by 0.6% in the same period.

The Daily Mail remains the largest selling Mid Market title, with a total of almost 2.4 million. The Express, meanwhile, sells less than half that number at 938,968.

However, last year saw rumours circulate that Daily Express owner, Richard Desmond, was planning to relaunch the paper as a national free-sheet in an attempt to boost flagging circulation figures (see Desmond Ponders Relaunching Express As Free-Sheet).

Popular Daily Titles

A similar story of circulation woe could be found amongst the nation’s Popular titles in March, with all tabloid newspapers seeing a downturn in total sales. The Daily Mirror led the way with losses of 9.7% year on year to just over 1.7 million, while the Daily Star also suffered, shedding 6.6% over the same period to rest at just under 844,000.

News International’s The Sun also dipped last month, losing 2.5% of its sales but retaining its position, not only as the best selling daily popular title, but as the nation’s best selling daily newspaper overall with a total circulation of 3.2 million.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The nation’s Sunday titles saw a similar depression, with the market as a whole losing 2.1% of its circulation. Weekend tabloids were again the worst casualty, with the People suffering the largest downturn, year on year, at 6.1%.

The Sunday Mirror aped its weekday counterpart’s decline, shedding 4.8% in the same period, while the Daily Star Sunday saw its total fall by 4.9%.

Mid Market title, the Sunday Express, outshone all weekend rivals, as well as bucking the overall trend of decline, with an increase in circulation of 6.6%. The rise pushes the title’s overall sales to over 1 million, although this is still less than half the circulation of Mid Market rival, the Mail on Sunday, which currently sits at 2.2 million.

Quality Sunday Titles

The Observer was the only Sunday Quality title to see a decline in its circulation during March, slipping by 1.8% to 444,195. Rival papers the Independent on Sunday, Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times all managed to stave off negative growth, with the Sunday Telegraph performing particularly well, notching up a 3.1% increase in sales year on year.

The Sunday Times remains the nation’s best selling Sunday Quality paper, cementing its position with a year on year circulation increase of 0.2% during March. Meanwhile the Independent on Sunday added 0.1% to its total, pushing it to just over 209,000.

Mid Market Sunday Titles

The Sunday Express performed admirably throughout March, adding 6.6% to its circulation total year on year. The paper now sells more than a million copies, although this is still some way behind Mid Market rival, the Mail on Sunday, which dipped by 3.9% over the same period.

The Mail on Sunday currently has sales of almost 2.3 million, making it the second best selling sunday paper, behind the News of the World.

Popular Sunday Titles

The nation’s Popular Sunday titles saw declines in circulation across the board, and while the People shed the most year on year during March with a decline of 6.1%, in six monthly year on year analysis the Daily Star Sunday can be seen in a far worse position, losing 11.4% compared to relatively minor losses amongst its competitors.

Back in monthly comparisons, the Daily Star Sunday was seen in a dim light, losing 4.9% of its sales to push its overall circulation down to just over 470,000.

Elsewhere, News International’s News of the World remained at the top of the pile despite losses of 3.7% year on year, with a total circulation approaching 3.7 million.

Six Monthly Year On Year Analysis

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