NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: June 2006
The daily newspaper market continued to see readership decline in the six months to June 2006, with a total downturn of more than 7% year on year, indicating a continued struggle for the sector.
There was only one title to see an upturn in readership in the entire daily market, with the Independent recording an almost 20% rise in its readership. Elsewhere it was a dismal picture, with all other titles losing readers.
The Popular titles were dealt the worst blow according to the latest NRS figures, with the Daily Mirror shedding more than 580,000 from its readership and the Daily Star dropping more than 320,000.
The Mid Market sector and the Qualities were also hit with falling readership numbers, with the Daily Mail dipping by 360,000 to leave its readership at more than 5.2 million.
Quality Daily Titles
The Independent put in the strongest performance for the period of January to June 2006, pushing its readership up by 122,000 year on year, almost 20%, to give the title almost 770,000 readers.
The Daily Telegraph suffered the biggest actual decline in readers for the period, with a more than 11% fall in its readership, losing just over 250,000 readers year on year. The paper now commands a readership of just over two million, remaining the most read title in the sector.
The Guardian and the Times also lost readers year on year for the six months to June, with the Guardian‘s readership dipping by more than 5% and the Times by more than 2%. The papers’ readerships now stand at 1.17 million and 1.78 million respectively.
Mid Market Daily Titles
The Mid Market saw a lacklustre performance year on year to June, with both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail shedding readers.
The Daily Mail was worst hit in actual terms, losing 360,000 readers or more than 6% of its total readership, whilst the Daily Express dropped more than 13% or almost 280,000 from its total in the same period. The papers hold readerships of almost 5.3 million and 1.8 million respectively.
Popular Daily Titles
The Daily Mirror saw its readers decline by more than 580,000 for the period year on year, whilst the Daily Star shed the greatest percentage at 13.8%.
The Star lost almost 18% of its readership for the six-month period, dipping by more than 320,000 readers to leave it with a readership of almost 1.5 million.
Other titles in the Popular sector also recorded a poor performance year on year, with the Daily Record and the Sun struggling. The Record and the Sun showed an 11% and almost 2% drop in readers respectively.
The Record‘s readers now stand at 1.1 million, whilst the Sun‘s readership rests at 7.8 million, remaining the most read paper in the Daily market after a dip of 134,000 readers.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – June 2006 | ||||
| Daily Titles | Jan 05-Jun 05 | Jan 06-Jun 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,254,000 | 2,002,000 | -252,000 | -11.2 |
| Guardian | 1,238,000 | 1,171,000 | -67,000 | -5.4 |
| Independent | 647,000 | 769,000 | 122,000 | 18.9 |
| Times | 1,821,000 | 1,781,000 | -40,000 | -2.2 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 2,038,000 | 1,760,000 | -278,000 | -13.6 |
| Daily Mail | 5,620,000 | 5,260,000 | -360,000 | -6.4 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 4,234,000 | 3,651,000 | -583,000 | -13.8 |
| Daily Record | 1,260,000 | 1,121,000 | -139,000 | -11.0 |
| Daily Star | 1,820,000 | 1,498,000 | -322,000 | -17.7 |
| Sun | 7,940,000 | 7,806,000 | -134,000 | -1.7 |
| Total Daily | 28,872,000 | 26,819,000 | -2,053,000 | -7.11 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday newspaper market recorded a slightly better performance than that of the daily market, with an overall decline of 5.2% year on year.
However, both the Mid Market and Popular sectors were down across the board, while only one title in the quality market showed an increase in readers.
The Observer was the only Sunday title to record an increase, adding 190,000 readers year on year to take its total figure to over 1.8 million
The biggest readership decline in the Sunday market was for the Sunday Mirror, which shed 486,000 readers, although it still has a strong total readership figure of around 4.1 million.
Quality Sunday Titles
The Observer was the only Sunday title to show an increase in readers, recording a rise of 12.5% year on year. The paper’s readership now rests at almost 1.5 million.
The biggest decline in the Quality sector, both percentage wise and in real terms, was felt by the Sunday Telegraph, which saw a year on year decline of 12.5%, equating to around 270,000 in real terms.
The Sunday Times, despite recording a year on year decline of 83,000, remained the most read title in the quality sector with a total figure of over 3.5 million.
Meanwhile, the Independent On Sunday saw a decline of 1.9% year on year, leaving it with 762,000 readers.
Mid Market Sunday Titles
Both titles in the Sunday Mid Market suffered declines, with the Mail On Sunday losing 260,000 whilst the Sunday Express shed 245,000 year on year.
However, the Mail On Sunday remained the most read Mid Market Sunday at more than 6.1 million, with the Sunday Express dropping to just under two million.
Popular Sunday Titles
The declines continued in the Popular sector, with the Daily Star Sunday notching up the largest percentage downturn, of more than 14% year on year, leaving it with a total of 913,000.
The largest decline in real terms was felt by the Sunday Mirror, which shed 486,000 year on year, although it was still left with a total of over four million.
The News Of The World, which remains the market leader with a total of more than 8.2 million, shed 294,000 year on year, whilst the People recorded a fall of just under 5% year on year, to leave it with a total readership figure of almost two million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – June 2006 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | Jan 05-Jun 05 | Jan 06-Jun 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday | 777,000 | 762,000 | -15,000 | -1.9 |
| Observer | 1,281,000 | 1,471,000 | 190,000 | 14.8 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,134,000 | 1,867,000 | -267,000 | -12.5 |
| Sunday Times | 3,615,000 | 3,532,000 | -83,000 | -2.3 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday | 6,421,000 | 6,161,000 | -260,000 | -4.0 |
| Sunday Express | 2,225,000 | 1,980,000 | -245,000 | -11.0 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 1,063,000 | 913,000 | -150,000 | -14.1 |
| News Of The World | 8,536,000 | 8,242,000 | -294,000 | -3.4 |
| People | 1,970,000 | 1,874,000 | -96,000 | -4.9 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,609,000 | 4,123,000 | -486,000 | -10.5 |
| Total Sunday | 32,631,000 | 30,925,000 | -1,706,000 | -5.2 |
NRS: 020 7242 8111 www.nrs.co.uk