ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: February 2008

Daily Newspaper Market

Britain’s national daily newspapers saw a decline in circulation of almost 2.5% overall for February year on year, with all sectors suffering losses, according to the latest data from the ABC.

Worst hit in real terms in the Quality sector were the Daily Telegraph and the Times, which both shed just under 30,000 copies each, whilst the Financial Times bucked the trend.

Sizeable downturns were seen in the Popular sector, particularly from the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star, whilst the Sun managed to add to its sales tally year on year for the month.

Quality Daily Titles

The Daily Telegraph and the Times both shed almost 30,000 copies each year on year for the month, taking their totals down to around 866,700 and just over 613,000 respectively.

Meanwhile, both the Guardian and the Independent also saw their total ABCs fall for the month, with year on year losses of almost 2.5% for the Guardian and almost 4.5% for the Independent. The titles now report final figures of 355,634 and 252,435 respectively.

The Financial Times, on the other hand, managed to add to its circulation slightly year on year for February, with almost 3,100 extra sales. This takes its total to around 448,350 copies.

The business broadsheet continued to add to its circulation, despite its second price increase in seven months in January (see Financial Times Cover Price Reaches £1.50).

Mid-Market Daily Titles

Both Mid-Market titles were down year on year, with market-leader the Daily Mail seeing the greatest real terms decline.

The title lost close to 45,000 issues, but its lead over rival, the Daily Express, remained vast with a total ABC of just under 2.3 million.

The Daily Express now holds an ABC of 736,634 after dropping around 25,000 issues from its total for the month year on year.

Popular Daily Titles

The Popular daily sector again saw sizeable losses year on year for February, with the Daily Mirror reporting a downturn of more than 4% and the Daily Star seeing a fall of over 7%.

The Mirror now holds a circulation of a little over 1.5 million, whilst the Star is down to under 724,000.

The Daily Record also fell, by 4.5%, whilst the Sun added to its total ABC year on year. The title added over 4,500 copies, with its final figure creeping nearer to the 3.1 million mark.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The Sunday market recorded an overall loss of over 4% year on year for February.

The only title in the Sunday market to see a year on year increase in its circulation was the Observer, which was up by around 5%.

In the Mid-Market sector, the Sunday Express suffered quite a big hit, falling by over 17% year on year.

Quality Sunday Titles

In the Quality Sunday sector, the Observer was up by almost 5%, to around 464,000 copies, whilst the Independent On Sunday‘s circulation was down by almost 5%, to around 228,000.

There was also a decline for the Sunday Times, which shed more than 39,000 copies year on year, to leave it with a total circulation of just over 1.2 million.

The Sunday Telegraph suffered a year on year downturn of over 5%. Its circulation now stands at more than 633,000 copies.

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

The Sunday Express was the hardest hit of the two Mid-Market Sundays, with a decline of over 140,000 copies year on year leaving its circulation at over 676,000.

The Mail On Sunday, meanwhile, now has a total circulation figure of just over 2.2 million copies following a fall of over 2.5% year on year.

Popular Sunday Titles

Moving on to the Popular sector, the Sunday Mirror had a drop in circulation of almost 2% year on year, taking its total to more than 1.3 million, while the News Of The World fell by over 2.5% to under 3.3 million.

Following a decline of around 4.5%, theDaily Star Sunday now has a circulation of around 366,500 copies.

There was a relatively large decline for the People, down by around 12.5% year on year, to just under 654,000.

Six Monthly Year On Year Analysis

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