ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: February 2009

Daily Newspaper Market

The latest ABC figures show that the national daily newspaper market fell 4.6% year on year in February.

There was a large year on year drop in circulation for the Independent, while the Daily Mirror and Daily Record also suffered.

There was good news for the Daily Star, however, which bucked the trend and saw a year on year rise of around 8%.

Quality Daily Titles

In the Quality sector, the Independent was down by around 18.5% year on year, leaving its circulation at under 206,000 copies.

The Daily Telegraph shed 5.2% of its circulation year on year, leaving its total at under 822,000 copies, while the Financial Times was also down, by around 6% over the same period, to 421,000 copies.

The Guardian now has a circulation of more than 340,000 copies, following a fall of 4.3% year on year.

There was a slight dip in the Times‘ circulation, of around 1%, leaving its total at under 608,000 copies.

Mid-Market Daily Titles

The Mid-Market saw both the Daily Mail and the Daily Express suffer year on year declines.

The Daily Mail lost 3.3% of its circulation year on year, leaving it at 2.2 million, while the Daily Express was down 2.9% year on year, to around 715,000.

Popular Daily Titles

It was not all bad news for daily newspapers, with the Daily Star enjoying a boost of around 8% to its circulation year on year.

It now has a total circulation figure of just under 781,000 copies.

The Daily Mirror and Daily Record were not so fortunate, as they both suffered year on year declines of around 11.5%.

The Daily Mirror‘s circulation now stands at 1.3 million, while the Daily Record‘s is around 349,000.

The Sun, meanwhile, dropped to under three million following a 4% but remains the nation’s number one newspaper.

Sunday Newspaper Market

It was a bad month for the Sunday newspaper market once again, down by 5.7% overall in February.

The vast majority of titles were down, with only one title recording a slight year on year percentage increase.

A number of titles also suffered significant declines, notably the Independent on Sunday, which has lost a fifth of its circulation over the past year.

Quality Sunday Titles

The Independent on Sunday suffered badly in February, falling by over 21% to leave its total circulation under 180,000.

The Observer and the Sunday Telegraph also experienced declines, down by 7.3% and 6% year on year respectively.

The Observer‘s circulation now stands at around 430,000, while the Sunday Telegraph‘s is down to below 600,000.

However, the Sunday Times was the only title in the overall Sunday market to record a percentage rise – up by 0.7% year on year to more than 1.2 million copies.

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

A significant year on year decline of 6% leaves the Sunday Express‘ circulation at around 635,000, while the Mail on Sunday dipped just 0.8% to 2.1 million.

Popular Sunday Titles

In the Popular sector, the People suffered a substantial year on year drop of 10.5%, taking it down to 585,000.

The Sunday Mirror witnessed a similar percentage decline, down by 9.1%, a real term loss of more than 122,000 copies, to 1.2 million.

The Daily Star Sunday dipped by the smallest amount in the Popular sector, down by just 1.7% year on year to around 360,000.

The News of the World can still boast a circulation of more than three million, despite seeing an 8% year on year drop (around 260,000 copies).

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