FT Strong As Tabloids See Circulations Dip
The Financial Times put in a healthy performance last month, seeing its circulation increase by 5.1% year on year, outperforming not only every rival quality title, but every national newspaper in the country in terms of growth.
The success follows the departure of editor, Andrew Gowers, who handed in his resignation at the end of last year, claiming “strategic differences” with the title’s management (see FT Editor Steps Down Citing ‘Strategic Differences’).
The FT has looked optimistic in the ensuing months, however, with publishing company Pearson expecting a return to profit this year (see Pearson Optimistic As FT Faces Break Even).
The paper now commands sales of 440,837, up by 21,451 in real terms on February 2005, and joins the Guardian and Independent in seeing a successful second month of 2006.
The Guardian saw its sales increase by 4.4% year on year, hitting 382,931 to prove continued public appetite for its mid-sized Berliner format, adopted last year (see Guardian Hits Newsstands In Berliner Format).
The Independent saw a rise of 0.9% in the same period, pushing its total sales to 266,075, while rival compact the Times saw a 1.4% dip to 669,691.
Market leading quality title the Daily Telegraph also saw a circulation downturn in February, shedding 0.7% from its sales to hit 901,123, although this remains head and shoulders above its nearest rival, the Times.
The Daily Mail was the only title outside the quality sector to see a circulation rise in February, adding 0.5% year on year to see sales total 2.4 million. Market rival the Daily Express saw a 12.7% dip meanwhile, claiming the crown as February’s worst performing title, and joining the nation’s popular titles, which continued to see a decline across the board.
As a whole, the daily newspaper market saw circulations slip by 2.98% year on year in February, although the situation for Sunday titles was worse.
The weekend sector shed 3.5% overall, with only the newly compact Independent on Sunday and Observer seeing a rise, adding an impressive 17.7% and 9% year on year.
A full breakdown of the latest ABC figures will be available on NewsLine this afternoon, with detailed analysis for both weekday and weekend titles by market sector.
ABC: 01442 870 800 www.abc.org.uk