ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: June 2007

Daily Newspaper Market

Britain’s national daily newspapers saw another month of circulation decline in June, with the sector recording an overall year on year downturn of almost 3%.

The Financial Times was the only title to record an upturn, with the business broadsheet boosting its final ABC by 0.9% year on year.

All other daily titles recorded a dip in circulation, with the Popular and Mid-Market sectors the worst hit. The Sun, despite remaining the most widely circulated daily title in the UK, felt the greatest actual slide of the dailies, whilst the largest percentage drop was seen by the Daily Express.

Quality Daily Titles

All Qualities apart from the Financial Times recorded a year on year decline in circulation for June.

The FT, which recently hiked its cover price from £1 on weekdays to £1.30, with its weekend edition also seeing an increase, by 30p to £1.80 (see Financial Times To Raise Price), bolstered its final ABC by less than 1%. The title’s circulation now rests at 444,763.

At MediaTel Group’s recent ‘Future of National Newspapers’ seminar, Stuart Taylor, the outgoing commercial director at Guardian News and Media, said that titles were growing in confidence in terms of cover price rises, and that newspapers represented “outstanding value” (see Newspaper Industry Must Focus On Marketing Itself To Succeed).

All other Quality titles felt a slide in circulation, with the Times experiencing the greatest loss in real terms, of just over 23,000 copies year on year. The title, which recently saw its online portal, Times Online, knocked off the top spot by thesun.co.uk (see ABCe Shows Sun’s Website Scoops Second Spot), now holds a total circulation of a little short of 634,000.

The Guardian shed around 16,650 from its total year on year to leave its at just over 363,500, whilst the Daily Telegraph dropped less than 1% to leave its final figure at just under 892,000 copies.

Meanwhile, the Independent recorded an actual loss of around 3,370 copies. Its total ABC now rests at more than 238,000.

Mid-Market Daily Titles

Both titles in the Mid-Market daily sector saw their circulations slide.

Market-leader the Daily Mail saw its total fall to just over the 2.3 million mark after a year on year loss of a little less than 37,000. The Daily Express, meanwhile, shed a little over 74,000 copies to leave its total at more than 770,000.

Popular Daily Titles

The Populars saw losses across the board, with market leader the Sun feeling the greatest actual drop in the sector.

The red-top lost more than 84,000 editions year on year for June, a fall of 2.7%, to leave its total at just over three million, making it the most circulated daily paper in Britain.

The title’s website saw a 9.3% month on month increase for May, recording just over nine million unique users for the period, according to ABCe. (see ABCe Shows Sun’s Website Scoops Second Spot).

Elsewhere, the Daily Mirror dropped just over 70,000 to leave its total standing at over 1.5 million.

The Daily Record shed just under 27,000 copies year on year whilst the Daily Star dipped by just under 7,600. The titles hold ABCs of a little over 404,000 and almost 796,000 respectively.

Sunday Newspaper Market

As with the dailies, the Sundays were also down overall, by 4.6%, with only two titles showing a year on year circulation increase.

Following redesigns, both the Independent On Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph recorded year on year upturns.

The biggest decline in real terms was suffered by Popular title the News Of The World, down almost 202,000 year on year.

Quality Sunday Titles

Of the Quality Sundays, market leader the Sunday Times felt the biggest decline, of more than 10.5% or more than 140,000 copies year on year, leaving it with a total circulation of less than 1.2 million.

The Observer was also down year on year, by just over 4%, to leave its circulation at around 451,500.

However, it wasn’t all bad news, with the Independent On Sunday up by a massive 17% year on year. This rise, following a redesign which saw it slimmed down and with less pull-outs than other Sunday titles, gives it a total circulation of around 246,000.

The Sunday Telegraph was also up year on year, adding 1.1% to its circulation figure, taking its total to almost 652,500. It also got a new look in June, with a new typeface and layout, although its content and structure remained unchanged (see New Look For Sunday Telegraph).

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

Both the Mail On Sunday and the Sunday Express shed copies from their circulations in June.

The Mail On Sunday was down by more than 40,000 copies year on year, leaving its final figure at almost 2.3 million, whilst the Sunday Express was left with a total of around 743,300 following a decline of almost 86,700 copies year on year.

Popular Sunday Titles

The hardest hit Popular Sunday title was the News Of The World, which was down by around 202,000 copies year on year, a percentage decline of around 6%.

Britain’s biggest national newspaper, which appointed Jane Johnson its new deputy editor at the start of June (see News Of The World Gets New Deputy Editor), now has a total circulation of more than 3.2 million.

The People also suffered a year on year drop, of more than 84,500 year on year, leaving its circulation at more than 736,400.

Meanwhile, the Daily Star Sunday shed more than 11,000 copies year on year, leaving its circulation at almost 395,000.

The Sunday Mirror was also down year on year, dropping more than 5,000 copies, to give it a total circulation of more than 1.4 million.

Six Monthly Year On Year Analysis

ABC: 01442 870 800 www.abc.org.uk