ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: January 2010

Daily Newspaper Market

The daily national newspaper market managed to boost its total circulation in January, up by 1.1% period on period.

Titles from all three categories – quality, mid-market and popular – recorded increases in the month.

Quality Daily Titles

In the Quality sector, the Guardian reported a small 0.6% period on period rise, which takes its circulation up to more than 302,000 copies.

However, its fellow Quality titles continued to struggle amid the downturn.  The Times and the Financial Times posted similar 2.5% and 2.6% period on period declines respectively.

The Times‘ circulation now stands at 508,000 copies, while the FT‘s sits at 390,000 copies.

Meanwhile, The Independent saw its circulation dip by 0.6% period on period, taking its total to below 186,000 copies.

The Daily Telegraph also posted a period on period drop, down by 1.7%, but still remains top of the Quality sector with a circulation of more than 691,000 copies.

Mid-Market Daily Titles

It was a mixed period for the Mid-Market titles.  The Daily Express witnessed a small 0.5% dip, leaving it with a total of under 675,000 copies.

However, the Daily Mail enjoyed a 0.3% period on period upturn during the same period, taking its total to a healthy 2.1 million copies.

Popular Daily Titles

It was a similar story for the Popular titles, with some enjoying decent increases, while others dipped.

The Daily Star was down by a slight 0.7% period on period to around 779,000 copies.  The Daily Mirror also recorded a slight drop of 0.6% to 1.2 million copies.

However, the Daily Record posted a 2.9% period on period increase, which takes its total up to nearly 324,000 copies.

The Sun also had a good period, increasing its circulation by 5% period on period, which puts it above the 3 million copies-mark once again.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The overall Sunday newspaper sector enjoyed a 3% period on period increase in January.

All of the titles, with the exception of just two, reported decent rises.

Quality Sunday Titles

The Independent on Sunday was the only title in the Quality sector to record a decline in January.   The Sunday title was down by 1.0% period on period to below 154,000 copies.

Its fellow titles all enjoyed a boost to their circulation figures over the same period.  The Sunday Telegraph was up by 0.5% to almost 528,000 copies, while the Observer’s total rose by 1.0% to nearly 355,000 copies.

The Sunday Times, meanwhile, posted an even higher 2.9% period on period increase to well over 1.1 million copies.

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

The Mail on Sunday also had a good period, increasing its circulation by 2.4% period on period to more than 2 million copies in January.

However, the Sunday Express saw its circulation dip by 0.9% over the period to 585,000 copies.

Popular Sunday Titles

The Popular market did particularly well in January, with all the titles reporting period on period rises.

The People was up by 0.1% period on period to almost 533,000 copies.  The Daily Star Sunday also enjoyed a decent 1.6% period on period increase to nearly 359,000 copies.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Mirror‘s circulation rose to more than 1.1 million copies after a 1.0% period on period upturn.

However, the News of the World enjoyed the biggest percentage increase in our analysis, up by almost 7% period on period to nearly 3 million copies.