ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: September 2009

Daily Newspaper Market

The overall daily newspaper market dipped by 1.2% in September period on period, with just two titles bucking the overall downward trend.

The Financial Times and the Guardian both reported period on period increases, of 3.2% and 1.1% respectively.

Quality Daily Titles

The quality sector enjoyed a good month in September, with two of the five titles increasing their circulation figures.

The Financial Times gained more than 12,500 new readers, pushing its total circulation up to around 408,500 copies.

The Guardian, meanwhile, posted a smaller increase of 3,500 copies, which takes it total to almost 315,000 copies.

INM’s Independent remains the lowest circulated title in the sector with 186,000 copies after a 0.7% period on period fall.

The Times dropped by a similar 0.8% during the period but still boasts a total circulation of more than 571,500 copies.

However, the Daily Telegraph holds on to its crown of the top-selling quality newspaper with a circulation of over 801,000 copies, despite a 1.5% period on period decline.

Mid-Market Daily Titles

The Daily Express suffered  a fairly substantial 2.5% decline in September, which takes its total down to around 712,000 copies and widens the gap with its rival Mid-Market title.

The Daily Mail did report a slight dip of 0.5% period on period but maintains an impressive total of more than 2.1 million copies.

Popular Daily Titles

All of the titles in the Popular sector reported period on period declines in September.

The Daily Star suffered the largest percentage drop over the month, down by 2.6% to 863,000 copies.  However, the title did record an 18% year on year increase.

The Daily Record, meanwhile, slipped by 1.8% period on period, taking its total down to 341,000 copies.

The Daily Mirror and The Sun also witnessed period on period losses, of 1.4% and 1.6% respectively.  However, both titles managed to retain healthy circulations of 1.3 million and 3 million.

The Sun may have lost almost 50,000 copies in September, but its total is still above the 3-million copy mark, which makes it easily the largest-selling daily national newspaper.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The overall Sunday newspaper sector also suffered a period on period decline in circulation, but only dipped by 0.1%.

Three of the Sunday titles – the Observer, the Sunday Times and the News of the World – all managed to record increases over the period.

Quality Sunday Titles

Only one title in the Quality sector reported a period on period drop.  The Independent on Sunday suffered a higher percentage fall than its sister title of 2.7%, taking its total down to 156,000 copies.

The Sunday Telegraph, meanwhile, only added 250 copies to remain static at 599,000 total copies.

However, the remaining two titles enjoyed circulation growth in September.  The Observer enjoyed a substantial 6.6% period on period rise, a real term increase of almost 24,000 copies, which takes its total up to more than 385,000 copies.

The Sunday Times also recorded a period on period increase, up 3.6% to over 1.2 million copies, making it the largest-selling quality title.

Mid-Market Sunday Titles

The Sunday Express recorded the biggest percentage decline in the overall Sunday market – falling 4.3% period on period in September to around 619,000 copies.

Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday lost just 1,000 copies, which leaves its total circulation at a fairly static 2 million copies.

Popular Sunday Titles

Only one title in the Popular sector recorded a period on period increase.  The News of the World managed to gain more than 8,000 copies, taking its total up to a market-leading 3.1 million copies.

The Daily Star Sunday, meanwhile, witnessed a fairly substantial 4.2% period on period decline during the same period.  Its circulation now stands at around 384,000 copies.

The People lost the most amount of readers in the Sunday Popular market – more than 22,000 copies – after a 3.8% fall, taking its total down to below 564,000 copies.

Lastly, the Sunday Mirror was down by a smaller 1.3% period on period and still boasts a healthy circulation of more than 1.2 million copies.