NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: April 2006
Daily Newspaper Market
The daily newspaper market continued to see readership decline for the six-month period from November 2005 to April 2006, with a substantial total downturn of 5.4% year on year, signalling further trouble for the sector.
There were some success stories amidst the depression however, with the Independent pushing its readership up by a massive 25% year on year, and fellow compact the Times also bucking the depressed trend, adding 5.2% of readers. The Guardian also saw an increase in its readership, up by 5,000 to give the paper a total readership of 1,232,000.
The popular and mid market sectors also struggled against readership decline, with the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror the worst casualties in each market.
Quality Daily Titles
Compact titles were the only newspapers to increase readership during the six-month period to April, with the Independent notching up the greatest success – an increase of 25% year on year, equating to a rise of 158,000 in real terms.
The paper now commands a readership of 791,000, while compact rivals the Times and the Guardian also saw increases in readership during the period.
The Times added 5.2% year on year, pushing its total to 1,877,000, while the Guardian‘s popularity grew by 5,000 readers, giving it a total readership of 1,232,000.
The market leading Daily Telegraph saw a significant 6.6% downturn during the period, with its figures falling by 146,000 actual readers, leaving the paper with a readership of just over two million.
The Financial Times was the worst hit paper in the sector, shedding 15.7% of its readership to rest at 355,000, down 66,000 in real terms.
Mid Market Daily Titles
The mid market saw a poor performance in the six-month period, with both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail losing readers year on year.
The Daily Express was the sector’s biggest casualty, dropping a substantial 18.7% from its total, whilst the Daily Mail lost 6.5% or 378,000 readers in the same period.
The Mail remains by far the market leader however, with a huge readership of almost five-and-a-half million compared to the Express‘ 1.75 million.
Popular Daily Titles
The Daily Mirror led the decline amongst the nation’s popular titles during the period, losing 12.3%, or more than half a million readers from its total, to hit 3.76 million. The Mirror‘s poor performance was not isolated, however, with declines for all titles in the sector.
The Daily Star was also hit hard, shedding 11.4% or 204,000 from its total readership year on year for the month. The title’s readership now rests at 1.5 million.
Also seeing a dip was the Sun with just 0.7% of its readers deserting the red-top. It remains by far the best performer in the sector however, with a readership of a whopping 8 million.
The Daily Record also suffered, losing 8.9% or 114,000 of its readers, leaving it with a total readership of 1,163,000.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – April 2006 | ||||
| Daily Titles | Nov 04-Apr 05 | Nov 05-Apr 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,214,000 | 2,068,000 | -146,000 | -6.6 |
| Guardian | 1,227,000 | 1,232,000 | 5,000 | 0.4 |
| Independent | 633,000 | 791,000 | 158,000 | 25.0 |
| Times | 1,784,000 | 1,877,000 | 93,000 | 5.2 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 2,157,000 | 1,754,000 | -403,000 | -18.7 |
| Daily Mail | 5,832,000 | 5,454,000 | -378,000 | -6.5 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 4,295,000 | 3,768,000 | -527,000 | -12.3 |
| Daily Record | 1,277,000 | 1,163,000 | -114,000 | -8.9 |
| Daily Star | 1,792,000 | 1,588,000 | -204,000 | -11.4 |
| Sun | 8,134,000 | 8,080,000 | -54,000 | -0.7 |
| Total Daily | 29,345,000 | 27,775,000 | -1,570,000 | -5.4 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday newspaper market looked almost as gloomy as its weekday counterpart in the six months to April 2006, with a 5.7% overall downturn year on year for the period.
Declines remained across the board for the mid market and popular sectors, with only the quality market seeing any upturn in readers.
The Observer excelled itself with a massive rise in readership of 17.9%, pushing the paper’s total readership up by 222,000 to 1.46 million. The Independent on Sunday also saw an increase, adding 7.6% or 57,000 readers.
Elsewhere there were sizeable downturns, however, with the Sunday Mirror dropping 528,000 readers or 11.4% year on year and the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Express both shedding more than 11% of their readership.
Quality Sunday Titles
The Observer had an excellent six-month period, bolstering its readership by 17.9% or 222,000 year on year, giving it a total of almost one-and-a-half million. This is no doubt largely thanks to the paper’s redesign and transition to the Berliner format at the beginning of the year (see Observer Makes Transition To Berliner Format).
Also putting in a strong performance was the Independent on Sunday, pushing its readership up 7.6%, or 57,000 in real terms, to give the paper a total of 807,000.
Other quality titles had less luck, with the Sunday Telegraph seeing a substantial downturn of 11.5%, down 250,000 in real terms, to give the paper a total readership of 1.9 million.
The Sunday Times also suffered, slipping 4.8% year on year. However it remains the leader in the quality sector with a total readership of more than three-and-a-half million.
Mid Market Sunday Titles
The Sunday mid market echoed the poor performance of its weekday counterpart, with both the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express suffering a downturn year on year.
The Sunday Express was worst effected with a readership slump of 11.7%, slipping by 279,000 readers to leave a total of just over two million.
The Mail on Sunday shed 5.7% from its total year on year, seeing readership drop by 376,000 to just under 6.2 million, keeping its market dominance.
Popular Sunday Titles
The popular sector continued the trend of decline, with the Daily Star Sunday feeling the worst percentage downturn, losing 14.9% of its readership year on year for the six-month period. The paper’s total now stands at 957,000, down by 168,000 in real terms.
Market leader, the News of the World, also suffered a dip in readers, with 329,000 or 3.8% of readers deserting the paper. The title now commands a total of over 8.4 million, remaining the nation’s best-read Sunday title.
The Sunday Mirror also suffered year on year for the period, with its readership down by more than half a million or 11.4%. This leaves the title with just over four million readers, placing it as the second best performing paper in the sector.
Also experiencing a dip in readers, the People dropped by 4%, down by 79,000 to leave a total readership of almost two million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – April 2006 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | Nov 04-Apr 05 | Nov 05-Apr 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday. | 750,000 | 807,000 | 57,000 | 7.6 |
| Observer | 1,239,000 | 1,461,000 | 222,000 | 17.9 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,167,000 | 1,917,000 | -250,000 | -11.5 |
| Sunday Times | 3,761,000 | 3,580,000 | -181,000 | -4.8 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday. | 6,561,000 | 6,185,000 | -376,000 | -5.7 |
| Sunday Express | 2,381,000 | 2,102,000 | -279,000 | -11.7 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday. | 1,125,000 | 957,000 | -168,000 | -14.9 |
| News Of The World | 8,733,000 | 8,404,000 | -329,000 | -3.8 |
| People | 1,986,000 | 1,907,000 | -79,000 | -4.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,632,000 | 4,104,000 | -528,000 | -11.4 |
| Total Sunday | 33,335,000 | 31,424,000 | -1,911,000 | -5.7 |
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