Daily Newspaper Market
Circulation figures were down across the board once again in December. The daily newspaper market posted a 6.7% decline on last year’s pre-Christmas figures.
The total daily market was also down on November’s figures, with every title suffering a drop in circulation.
The Sunday newspaper market failed to buck the trend – the overall sector is down 6.4% on last year’s numbers.
National Newspaper ABC Figures – Dec 2010
| Daily Titles | Dec-09 | Nov-10 | Dec-10 | YoY Actual Change | YoY % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | |||||||
| Daily Telegraph | 703,249 | 652,762 | 631,280 | -71,969 | -10.2 | -21,482 | -3.3 |
| Financial Times | 400,827 | 400,699 | 390,121 | -10,706 | -2.7 | -10,578 | -2.6 |
| Guardian | 300,540 | 270,582 | 264,819 | -35,721 | -11.9 | -5,763 | -2.1 |
| Independent | 186,940 | 177,636 | 175,002 | -11,938 | -6.4 | -2,634 | -1.5 |
| Times | 521,535 | 466,311 | 448,463 | -73,072 | -14.0 | -17,848 | -3.8 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Daily Express | 677,750 | 639,690 | 623,689 | -54,061 | -8.0 | -16,001 | -2.5 |
| Daily Mail | 2,113,134 | 2,100,885 | 2,030,968 | -82,166 | -3.9 | -69,917 | -3.3 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Mirror | 1,225,502 | 1,177,629 | 1,133,440 | -92,062 | -7.5 | -44,189 | -3.8 |
| Daily Record | 314,753 | 303,031 | 290,247 | -24,506 | -7.8 | -12,784 | -4.2 |
| Daily Star | 784,958 | 756,686 | 713,602 | -71,356 | -9.1 | -43,084 | -5.7 |
| Sun | 2,862,935 | 2,898,113 | 2,717,013 | -145,922 | -5.1 | -181,100 | -6.2 |
| Total Daily | 10,092,123 | 9,844,024 | 9,418,644 | -673,479 | -6.7 | -425,380 | -4.3 |
Quality Daily Titles
- Once again, the Telegraph, The Times and the Guardian all posted substantial YoY declines during December
- The Financial Times was the least affected by the downward trend, dipping 2.7% YoY and 2.6% PoP
- The Times suffered the biggest actual drop, losing more than 73,000 readers over the year
- The Daily Telegraph remains the most popular title in the quality sector with a total circulation of 631,000
Mid-Market Titles
- The Daily Mail retained a healthy circulation of more than 2 million copies despite recording both YoY and PoP declines
- The Daily Express suffered a substantial 8% YoY decrease, taking its total below 624,000 copies
Popular Daily Titles
- The Sun holds on to its crown as the most popular daily newspaper with a total circulation of 2.7 million despite losing the most actual sales (146,000 copies)
- The Daily Star suffered the highest YoY percentage loss in the red-top sector – down 9.1%
- The Daily Record slipped below the 300,000 copies mark after a 7.8% YoY drop
Sunday Newspaper Market
The picture was much the same for the Sunday newspaper market, which saw a 6.4% decline on last year’s circulation figures.
There were losses across the board, with just one title (the Daily Star Sunday) managing a small PoP increase.
National Newspaper ABC Figures – Dec 2010
| Sunday Titles | Dec-09 | Nov-10 | Dec-10 | YoY Actual Change | YoY % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | |||||||
| Independent On Sunday. | 155,460 | 150,931 | 150,437 | -5,023 | -3.2 | -494 | -0.3 |
| Observer | 351,019 | 315,316 | 301,457 | -49,562 | -14.1 | -13,859 | -4.4 |
| Sunday Times | 1,113,195 | 1,052,414 | 1,008,163 | -105,032 | -9.4 | -44,251 | -4.2 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 525,088 | 501,430 | 490,322 | -34,766 | -6.6 | -11,108 | -2.2 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Mail On Sunday. | 2,000,473 | 1,985,333 | 1,951,783 | -48,690 | -2.4 | -33,550 | -1.7 |
| Sunday Express | 590,596 | 545,475 | 544,870 | -45,726 | -7.7 | -605 | -0.1 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Star Sunday. | 353,249 | 331,564 | 336,868 | -16,381 | -4.6 | 5,304 | 1.6 |
| News Of The World | 2,791,773 | 2,753,599 | 2,600,985 | -190,788 | -6.8 | -152,614 | -5.5 |
| People | 532,680 | 502,656 | 486,669 | -46,011 | -8.6 | -15,987 | -3.2 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,113,310 | 1,070,062 | 1,047,363 | -65,947 | -5.9 | -22,699 | -2.1 |
| Total Sunday | 9,526,843 | 9,208,780 | 8,918,917 | -607,926 | -6.4 | -289,863 | -3.1 |
Quality Sunday Titles
- The Observer posted the highest percentage drop in the Sunday market, down by more than 14% YoY
- However, the Sunday Times witnessed the biggest loss (in terms of actual sales) – down by more than 100,000 copies
- The Independent on Sunday suffered the least, with a small 3.2% YoY decline and a slight 0.3% PoP dip
- Despite a drop in sales, the Sunday Times remains the most popular title in the sector with a total circulation of more than 1 million copies
Mid-Market Sunday Titles
- The Mail on Sunday retained a healthy circulation of just below two million copies, despite posting both YoY and PoP declines
- The Sunday Express saw a fairly substantial YoY loss – down 7.7% – but managed just a slight 0.1% PoP dip
Popular Sunday Titles
- Sales fell across the board in the red-top market, with just one exception – the Daily Star Sunday, which enjoyed a small 1.6% PoP increase
- The News of the World suffered the most substantial actual loss over the year once again (down more than 190,000 copies) but still remains the most popular Sunday title with a total of more than 2.6 million copies
- The Sunday Mirror also saw sales fall both YoY and PoP but managed to keep its circulation above the one million mark
National Newspaper ABC Figures – Jul – Dec 2010
| Daily Titles | Jul 09 -Dec 09 | Jun 10 -Nov 10 | Jul 10- Dec 10 | Actual Change | % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | |||||||
| Daily Telegraph | 778,552 | 666,898 | 658,172 | -120,380 | -15.5 | -8,726 | -1.3 |
| Financial Times | 402,799 | 390,030 | 389,681 | -13,118 | -3.3 | -349 | -0.1 |
| Guardian | 313,026 | 277,135 | 273,384 | -39,642 | -12.7 | -3,751 | -1.4 |
| Independent | 187,354 | 182,870 | 180,812 | -6,542 | -3.5 | -2,058 | -1.1 |
| Times | 565,279 | 489,206 | 479,626 | -85,653 | -15.2 | -9,580 | -2.0 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Daily Express | 707,284 | 657,261 | 649,957 | -57,327 | -8.1 | -7,304 | -1.1 |
| Daily Mail | 2,156,486 | 2,125,292 | 2,117,030 | -39,456 | -1.8 | -8,262 | -0.4 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Mirror | 1,295,348 | 1,222,337 | 1,202,382 | -92,966 | -7.2 | -19,955 | -1.6 |
| Daily Record | 335,430 | 321,301 | 316,119 | -19,311 | -5.8 | -5,182 | -1.6 |
| Daily Star | 850,425 | 822,627 | 808,804 | -41,621 | -4.9 | -13,823 | -1.7 |
| Sun | 3,036,970 | 2,968,767 | 2,928,875 | -108,095 | -3.6 | -39,892 | -1.3 |
| Total Daily | 10,628,953 | 10,123,724 | 10,004,842 | -624,111 | -5.9 | -118,882 | -1.2 |
National Newspaper ABC Figures – Jul – Dec 2010
| Sunday Titles | Jul 09 -Dec 09 | Jun 10 -Nov 10 | Jul 10- Dec 10 | Actual Change | % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | |||||||
| Independent On Sunday. | 157,788 | 155,072 | 153,784 | -4,004 | -2.5 | -1,288 | -0.8 |
| Observer | 375,126 | 318,132 | 314,237 | -60,889 | -16.2 | -3,895 | -1.2 |
| Sunday Times | 1,177,799 | 1,071,867 | 1,061,017 | -116,782 | -9.9 | -10,850 | -1.0 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 583,421 | 506,233 | 503,193 | -80,228 | -13.8 | -3,040 | -0.6 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Mail On Sunday. | 2,043,013 | 1,967,824 | 1,978,075 | -64,938 | -3.2 | 10,251 | 0.5 |
| Sunday Express | 618,390 | 561,424 | 557,672 | -60,718 | -9.8 | -3,752 | -0.7 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Star Sunday. | 380,383 | 359,241 | 357,074 | -23,309 | -6.1 | -2,167 | -0.6 |
| News Of The World | 3,039,130 | 2,853,290 | 2,826,854 | -212,276 | -7.0 | -26,436 | -0.9 |
| People | 563,226 | 523,514 | 518,466 | -44,760 | -7.9 | -5,048 | -1.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,202,458 | 1,129,385 | 1,112,554 | -89,904 | -7.5 | -16,831 | -1.5 |
| Total Sunday | 10,140,734 | 9,445,982 | 9,382,926 | -757,808 | -7.5 | -63,056 | -0.7 |
