ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: March 2011

National newspaper circulation figures were down across the board once again in March, with the total daily market posting a 5% year on year decline.

However, two titles recorded slight increases on February’s figures – the FT and the Daily Record.

The Sunday newspaper market suffered an even greater 7% year on year fall (just one title – the Independent on Sunday – managed to increase its circulation period on period).

Daily Newspaper Market

Quality Daily Titles

• The Daily Telegraph remains the top-selling quality title with a total circulation of more than 626,000 despite posting the biggest actual loss in the sector – down 60,000 copies.
• The Times also dropped a hefty 56,000 copies – down 11.2% YoY – taking its total to 446,000.
• The Financial Times‘ total is still below the 400,000 mark but the title enjoyed a small 0.8% PoP rise.
• The Independent fared better than most, once again, dipping just 1.2% YoY and 0.3% PoP.
• The Indy spin-off i posted total sales of 171,415 – down from 175,714 in February.

Mid-Market Daily Titles

• The Daily Mail still has a healthy circulation of more than two million copies after a small 2% YoY drop in sales.
• The Daily Express suffered a higher 7.1% YoY fall to almost 621,000 copies.

Popular Daily Titles

• The Daily Record was the only title in the tabloid market to post an increase in circulation – up 0.1% PoP. However, the red-top is down 6.2% YoY.
• The Sun suffered the biggest actual loss in the sector – down 187,000 copies – but remains the top-selling daily title with a total of more than 2.8 million copies.
• The Daily Star‘s total has fallen below the 700,000 mark after a 15.5% YoY drop in circulation.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The only success story in the Sunday market is the Independent on Sunday, which managed a slight 0.3% monthly increase.

However, overall, the picture looks fairly bleak – the total market is down 7% on last year and some titles posted fairly substantial losses.

Quality Sunday Titles

• The Independent on Sunday managed a small 0.3% PoP increase, taking its total above 153,000 copies.
• The Observer posted the highest percentage loss in the quality sector – down 10.7% YoY – which takes its total below the 300,000 mark.
• However, the Sunday Times recorded the biggest actual loss (down almost 80,000 copies). Despite this, the title’s total sits above one million copies.
• The Sunday Telegraph‘s total remains below the 500,000 mark following a 5.5% YoY drop in sales.

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

• The Mail on Sunday posted a 3.3% YoY decline – a loss of almost 65,000 copies – taking its total below 1.9 million copies.
• The Sunday Express recorded a 6.5% YoY drop to 533,000 copies.

Popular Sunday Titles

• Amid the phone-hacking scandal, the News of the World, posted the biggest loss – down by more than 240,000 copies – but still remains the top-selling Sunday title with a total of over 2.6 million copies.
• The Sunday Mirror‘s total still sits above the one million mark despite a 7.3% YoY and 3.4% PoP decline in sales.
• The Daily Star Sunday suffered a 14.1% YoY drop, taking its total below 300,000 copies.
• The People also posted a significant 10.2% YoY fall, leaving it with a total of 478,000 copies.

National Newspapers ABC Figures – Oct- Mar 2011

National Newspapers ABC Figures – Oct – Mar 2011