ABC National Newspaper Round-Up – March 2002

According to analysis of March circulation figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), the overall circulation for national newspapers fell 0.9% compared to February.

The heaviest loss in percentage terms was at the Daily Express, which saw a 4.9% decrease compared to the previous month. In numbers terms, the biggest fall was at leading daily tabloid the Sun, which saw a decline in readership month on month of over 60,000.

The biggest improvements in circulation this month were at smaller circulating papers. The Racing Post managed a 22.8% increase compared to the previous month, also the largest increase in actual numbers of copies, while the Business’s circulation improved to the tune of 4.9%.

The death of the Queen Mother was unlikely to make a huge impact on circulation for March, occurring as it did at the very end of the month. However, sales of the commemorative editions put out by most titles are likely to show up in April’s figures.

Quality Market

The quality market saw year on year growth for the six month period to March 2002, but it was not overly dramatic at 0.2%. Within that figure there was a good performance from revamped financial title The Business which saw a 26% or 14,400 improvement to its circulation, which has been boosted to just under 70,000 now that the title appears on news stands on Sunday and Monday each week.

The best performance in numbers terms was the Sunday Times, with a 15,000 increase taking its circulation to 1.4 million. However, fellow Sunday title the Independent on Sunday suffered the worst loss in this category for the period, slipping 6.9%, a drop of 17,635 to just over 235,000.

Mid Market

The mid market titles as a whole saw a year on year decline for the period of 1.5%, but as usual within that the Express titles were slipping while the Mail titles saw modest growth.

The Sunday Express was the worst hit, dropping just under 95,000 year on year from its circulation, a decline of over 10% to 833,000. The Daily Express saw a 6% fall in circulation, representing around 60,000 copies. This month owner Richard Desmond announced a price slash for both Express titles- time will tell if this can arrest the decline.

Popular Market

The popular market suffered the largest fall as a whole compared to the other national newspaper markets, with a 2% fall representing over 284,000.

The best performer within this proved to be the Daily Star, which in a year on year comparison of the six month period, has seen a 12.8% improvement in circulation, the addition of 70,500 taking it to well over 620,000.

Sport First suffered the biggest loss in percentage terms, of 5.5%, while fellow sporting tabloid, the Racing Post saw one of the best improvements, up 10.7%.

The largest drop in actual numbers terms was at the Sun. The title dropped 3.4% or well over 118,000 from its circulation year on year, but remains the top selling daily tabloid by some margin, with a circulation of 3.4 million.

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