ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: August 2006

Daily Newspaper Market

In August the national daily newspaper market suffered an overall circulation drop of 3.2% year on year, a fall in sales of almost 390,000 in real terms.

Both the Mid Market and Popular sectors recorded declines for all titles, whilst only the Financial Times and the Guardian recorded year on year increases in sales in the daily Quality sector.

In the Popular market the Sun recorded the biggest fall in real terms although the biggest percentage drop in the popular sector was felt by the Daily Record.

Quality Daily Titles

The Daily Telegraph stayed the biggest selling title in the daily Quality market in August, with a circulation of almost 900,000, although it recorded a year on year decline of 0.7%.

The Guardian recorded an increase of 6.2% year on year, easily the best performance of all the daily titles, whilst the Financial Times saw a year on year sales increase of 0.6%, an actual increase of almost 2,500.

The Times saw a 0.8% downturn year on year, a decline of almost 5,200 in real terms, leaving it with a circulation figure of 675,030.

The Independent recorded a circulation drop in real terms of just over 1,000, leaving it with a total circulation figure of 254,954.

Mid Market Daily Titles

Mid Market dailies recorded year on year declines for August, with the Daily Express seeing the biggest year on year drop in the sector, whilst the Daily Mail stayed the best selling Mid Market title by some distance.

The Daily Express saw its circulation figure plummet by 47,059, leaving it with a total sales figure of 829,504, whilst the Daily Mail saw a very small drop of 0.1%, leaving it with a total circulation figure of 2.3 million.

Popular Daily Titles

Popular Daily Titles

The Popular market saw declines across the board in August, with the Sun recording the biggest year on year decline in sales, of 137,465, although it was still by far the best selling paper across the entire daily market, with a total circulation figure of over 3.2 million.

The Daily Mirror suffered a year on year decline of 6%, a drop in real terms of 106,841, leaving it with a total figure of around 1.6 million.

Meanwhile, the Daily Record felt the biggest year on year drop in the popular market in percentage terms, of 8.6%, which left it with a total circulation figure of around 433,000, whilst the Star felt a decline of 7.3% year on year.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The Sunday newspaper market also saw an overall year on year drop in August, of 3.9%, with just three titles managing to buck the overall trend.

The Independent On Sunday, the Observer and the Mail On Sunday all managed to record increases for August.

Despite the News Of The World shedding over 220,000 sales year on year in real terms, it remained the best selling Sunday title with a circulation of more than 3.5 million.

Quality Sunday Titles

The Independent On Sunday and the Observer both recorded year on year increases in sales, of 7.9% and 3.3% respectively, with the Independent On Sunday also seeing the biggest actual increase, of nearly 16,000.

The Sunday Telegraph suffered the biggest tumble year on year in the sector, in both percentage and real terms, leaving it with a total circulation of around 653,600.

The Sunday Times remained the biggest selling of the Quality Sundays, with a circulation figure of well over 1.3 million.

Mid Market Sunday Titles

Of the Mid Market Sundays, the Mail On Sunday increased in real terms by 13,156 year on year, giving it a total circulation figure of almost 2.3 million.

The Sunday Express suffered a very large year on year drop in sales, of over 90,000, a percentage decrease of over 10%, leaving it with a total circulation figure of 826,730.

Of the Mid Market Sundays, the Sunday Express dropped by over 10% year on year in July, leaving it with a total circulation figure of around 796,000.

Popular Sunday Titles

The News Of The World saw the largest actual decline in the Popular sector, with sales down 220,557 year on year, although it stayed the market leader.

The Sunday Mirror saw a decline of around 94,000 year on year, to leave it with a total circulation of over 1.4 million, whilst the People also recorded a decline, of almost 86,000.

Meanwhile, the Daily Star Sunday saw a drop of 3% year on year in August, equating to 13,155 in real terms.

Six Monthly Year On Year Analysis

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