ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: September 2008

Daily Newspaper Market

The national daily newspaper market was down 5.3% overall in September, with all titles in our analysis showing circulation declines.

The Independent, Daily Express, Daily Mirror and Daily Star all suffered relatively large declines.

The Sun remains the daily title with the highest circulation, at almost 3.2 million copies.

Quality Daily Titles

In the Quality sector, the Independent was down by around 12% year on year, to leave its total at just under 221,000 copies.

The Guardian fell by around 5% year on year, leaving its circulation at under 349,000.

The Financial Times and the Times both saw their totals dip by around 2.5% year on year. The FT‘s circulation now rests at just over 429,000 while the Times has a circulation of around 638,000.

The Times recently upped its cover price by 10p to 80p, taking it level with its rivals (see The Times Ups Its Cover Price).

There was a 4.5% fall for the Daily Telegraph, which now has a total circulation of just over 851,000.

Mid-Market Daily Titles

In the Mid-Market, the Daily Express was down by almost 9.5% year on year. Its circulation now stands at around 739,000 copies.

The Daily Mail‘s circulation fell by just over 5% year on year, resting at a still very healthy 2.2 million copies.

Popular Daily Titles

The Daily Mirror and Daily Star were both down by around 9% year on year.

The Daily Star now has a circulation of around 731,000, while the Daily Mirror‘s is just over 1.4 million.

Following a year on year fall of around 7.5%, the Daily Record‘s circulation now stands at under 381,000.

The Sun performed relatively well, with a 1.8% fall in its circulation leaving its total at almost 3.2 million copies.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The Sunday market was down 7% year on year overall, with the Daily Star Sunday suffering a significantly large year on year decline of 21.3%.

Quality Sunday Titles

The Independent On Sunday experienced the largest decline in the quality sector, down 14.5% year on year, leaving it with a circulation of around 183,000.

The Observer and the Sunday Telegraph saw similar year on year downturns of 4% and 3.6% respectively.

The Observer lost over 19,000 copies, leaving it with a circulation of around 453,000, while the Sunday Telegraph lost more than 23,000 copies but retained a circulation of 622,000.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times dipped by just 1.8% over the same period, leaving it with a circulation of around 1.2 million copies, which is nearly double the amount as its nearest competitor in the sector.

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

In the Sunday Mid-Market, the Sunday Express was down by almost 10% year on year, leaving its circulation at 655,000.

The Mail On Sunday fared slightly better, with a fall of around 4.7% year on year – a real term decline of around 110,000 copies – leaving it with a circulation of just over 2.2 million.

Popular Sunday Titles

The Popular sector saw relatively large percentage declines for both the Daily Star Sunday and the People.

The Daily Star Sunday was down by more than 21% year on year to around 382,000 copies, while the People suffered a 13.4% year on year fall to around 626,000 copies.

The Sunday Mirror and the News of the World also experienced significant declines in the Sunday market, though both titles have managed to retain healthy circulation figures.

The Sunday Mirror was down by 9.4% year on year to around 1.3 million copies, while despite falling by 5.9% year on year, the News Of The World still remains the overall top selling Sunday paper with a circulation of over 3.2 million.

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