ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: October 2008

Daily Newspaper Market

The national daily newspaper market suffered an overall circulation fall of 5.1% year on year in October.

The only daily national title in our analysis to enjoy an increase in circulation was the Financial Times, up 0.5% year on year.

There was a large year on year fall for the Independent, down 16.3%.

Quality Daily Titles

The Financial Times was up by over 2,000 copies in October, taking its total circulation to just under 452,000 copies.

FT Publishing, which houses the FT, enjoyed a revenue rise of around 14% according to a trading update released during the month (see FT Group Reports 11% YoY Revenue Rise).

The Guardian and Times were down by around 3% and 2% year on year respectively. The Guardian‘s circulation now stands at around 354,000 while the Times‘ is just under 630,000 copies.

The Independent suffered a large year on year drop in its circulation in October, falling16.3% to 201,000 copies.

At the start of the month, the Independent scrapped its stand-alone media supplement, replacing it with a new 24-page sports pull-out section (see The Independent Scraps Media Section In Favour Of New Sports Supplement).

The Daily Telegraph was also down year on year, with a 4.4% dip leaving its total at 843,000 copies.

Mid-Market Daily Titles

The Daily Express now has a circulation of around 742,000 following a year on year drop of 6%, while the Daily Mail, down 7.2% year on year, has a circulation of more than two million.

October saw the Mail raise the cover price of its Saturday edition for the first time in five years, from 70p to 80p (see Daily Mail Saturday Ups Price To 80p).

Popular Daily Titles

In the popular sector, the Daily Mirror and Daily Record were both down by around 7% year on year.

The Daily Record now has a circulation of around 373,000, while the Daily Mirror‘s is just over 1.4 million.

There was a relatively large circulation decline for the Daily Star in October, of 9.6% year on year, leaving its total at under 697,000.

The Sun remained the national daily title with the highest circulation, at over three million copies, although it was down by around 2% year on year.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The Sunday market was down 7.2% year on year overall, with the Independent on Sunday and the Daily Star Sunday both suffering significantly large year on year declines.

Quality Sunday Titles

The Independent on Sunday experienced the largest decline overall in the Sunday market, down by more than 21% year on year, leaving it with a circulation of less than 166,000.

The Observer saw a year on year downturn of 6.6%, leaving it with a circulation of around 455,000 copies.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times both dipped by a similar amount, falling 3.5% and 3.2% respectively.

The Sunday Telegraph lost over 22,000 copies, leaving it with a circulation of just under 629,000, while the Sunday Times lost more than 40,000 copies but retained a circulation of over 1.2 million.

The Sunday Times easily remains the top Sunday title in the quality sector, with over double the amount of copies of its nearest competitor.

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

In the Sunday Mid-Market, the Mail on Sunday was down by 6.7% year on year, leaving its circulation at around 2.2 million copies.

The Sunday Express was down by a similar amount, falling 6.6% year on year – a real term decline of around 47,000 copies – leaving it with a circulation of around 669,000.

Popular Sunday Titles

The Popular sector saw a large percentage decline for the Daily Star Sunday, which lost over 92,000 copies – 20.7% year on year – taking its circulation to around 354,000.

The People also suffered a relatively significant downturn in October, falling 11.7% year on year to around 615,000 copies.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Mirror and the News of the World also experienced declines in the Sunday market, though both titles have managed to retain healthy circulation figures.

The Sunday Mirror was down by 7.5% year on year to just below 1.3 million copies, while despite falling by 6.4% year on year and losing more than 213,000 copies, the News of the World remains the overall top selling Sunday paper with a circulation of over 3.1 million.

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