NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: May 2006
Daily Newspaper Market
The daily newspaper market continued to see readership decline in the six-month period from December 2005 to May 2006, with a total downturn of 4.38% year on year, indicating continued problems for the sector.
There were some success stories amidst the depression, however, with the Independent adding a remarkable 26.4% to its total year on year, further proving the success of its compact format with readership now totalling 809,000.
Fellow compacts the Times and the Guardian also saw success, adding 4.5% and 2.7% respectively for the period. The papers now command sales of 1.89 million and 1.27 million.
Worst hit in actual terms was Popular title the Daily Mirror, which lost 376,000 readers for the period year on year. The dip leaves the paper’s readership at 3.8 million.
Quality Daily Titles
Compact titles were the only national newspapers to increase their readership in the six-month period to May, with the Independent notching up the greatest success – an increase of 26.4% year on year, equating to a rise of 169,000 in real terms.
The paper now commands a readership of almost 810,000, whilst compact rivals the Times and the Guardian also saw a rise in readership for the period, with the Times increasing by 4.5% to total a readership of almost 1.9 million. The Guardian‘s readership was boosted by 2.7%, giving it a total of more than 1.27 million readers.
The market-leading Daily Telegraph saw a 9.2% downturn during the period, a dent in its readership of more than 200,000, to leave it with a readership of just over two million.
Mid Market Daily Titles
The Mid Market saw a poor performance for the six-month period to May, with both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail losing readers year on year.
The Daily Express lost 11.9% from its total, whilst the Daily Mail‘s readership dropped by 5.7% in the same period. The titles now command readerships of 1.7 million and 5.3 million respectively.
Popular Daily Titles
The Daily Star led the decline amongst the nation’s Popular titles during the period in percentage terms, losing 13.6% from its total to hit 1.5 million readers. The Star‘s poor performance was not isolated, however, with declines for all titles in the sector.
Also hit hard was the Daily Mirror, which suffered the heaviest loss in real terms, shedding 376,000 readers from its total to leave the paper with a readership of 3.8 million.
Rival the Sun was the least affected by readership decline during the period, losing just 0.2% of its readers to rest at almost eight million readers, leaving it by far the most read national daily title in the UK.
The Daily Record dropped more than 140,000 readers year on year for the period, giving it a total readership of 1.16 million.
| National Newspapers – NRS Figures May 2006 | ||||
| Daily Titles | Dec 04-May 05 | Dec 05-May 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,217,000 | 2,012,000 | -205,000 | -9.2 |
| Guardian | 1,242,000 | 1,276,000 | 34,000 | 2.7 |
| Independent | 640,000 | 809,000 | 169,000 | 26.4 |
| Times | 1,811,000 | 1,892,000 | 81,000 | 4.5 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 2,018,000 | 1,777,000 | -241,000 | -11.9 |
| Daily Mail | 5,632,000 | 5,312,000 | -320,000 | -5.7 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 4,176,000 | 3,800,000 | -376,000 | -9.0 |
| Daily Record | 1,304,000 | 1,161,000 | -143,000 | -11.0 |
| Daily Star | 1,786,000 | 1,543,000 | -243,000 | -13.6 |
| Sun | 8,017,000 | 7,999,000 | -18,000 | -0.2 |
| Total Daily | 28,843,000 | 27,581,000 | -1,262,000 | -4.38 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday newspaper market looked marginally more optimistic than its weekday counterpart for the six-month period, with an overall decline in readers of 3.3% year on year.
Declines remained across the board for the Mid Market and Popular sectors, however, with only the Quality market seeing any upturn in readers via the Observer and the Independent On Sunday
The Observer saw the largest increase, adding an impressive 17.3% to its total readership. The paper’s readership now stands at more than 1.4 million.
Elsewhere there were some sizeable downturns, with the Sunday Mirror shedding the most readers in real terms with the loss of 335,000 or 7.3% from its total, which now stands at more than four million readers.
Quality Sunday Titles
The Observer put in a very strong performance for the period, raising its readership by 17.3%, giving the Quality Sunday title a readership total of more than 1.47 million.
The Independent On Sunday also boosted its readership, which rose by 8.1% during the six-month period to May. It’s readership now stands at more than 820,000, after adding over 60,000 readers in actual terms.
The Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph lost readers, with the Telegraph‘s readership dipping by 10.3%. The paper’s readership now stands at just under 1.9 million.
The Sunday Times‘ suffering was not as severe, shedding 4.6% of its readership (169,000) during the period to leave it with a total of almost 3.5 million readers.
Mid Market Sunday Titles
The Sunday Mid Market titles also suffered during the six-month period to May, with both the Mail On Sunday and the Sunday Express seeing a drop in readership.
The Sunday Express felt the biggest downturn, shedding 9.3% of its readership to leave it with a total of just over two million readers.
The Mail On Sunday lost 3.2% of its readers year on year, though still retains its market dominance with a total readership of more than six million.
Popular Sunday Titles
The popular sector continued the trend of decline, with the Sunday Mirror notching up the largest downturn in readership in real terms, dropping by 335,000 readers (7.3%) year on year. The paper’s total readership now stands at 4.23 million.
Market leader, the News of the World, also suffered a dip in readers, losing 1.6% for the period equating to 140,000 readers deserting the paper. The title commands a total of almost 8.5 million, remaining the nation’s most read Sunday title.
The People suffered a marginal loss of 0.6% of its readership, just 12,000, leaving it with 1.9 million readers. The Daily Star On Sunday‘s readership dipped by 7.5%, leaving it with a total sum of 958,000 readers.
| National Newspapers – NRS Figures May 2006 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | Dec 04-May 05 | Dec 05-May 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday | 764,000 | 826,000 | 62,000 | 8.1 |
| Observer | 1,260,000 | 1,478,000 | 218,000 | 17.3 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,114,000 | 1,896,000 | -218,000 | -10.3 |
| Sunday Times | 3,664,000 | 3,495,000 | -169,000 | -4.6 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday | 6,339,000 | 6,136,000 | -203,000 | -3.2 |
| Sunday Express | 2,275,000 | 2,063,000 | -212,000 | -9.3 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 1,036,000 | 958,000 | -78,000 | -7.5 |
| News Of The World | 8,519,000 | 8,379,000 | -140,000 | -1.6 |
| People | 1,974,000 | 1,962,000 | -12,000 | -0.6 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,568,000 | 4,233,000 | -335,000 | -7.3 |
| Total Sunday | 32,513,000 | 31,426,000 | -1,087,000 | -3.3 |
NRS: 020 7242 8111 www.nrs.co.uk