ABC National newspapers – August 2014

Daily titles

There were few changes for daily national newspaper titles in August, with just the Sun recording any considerable growth over the month.

Up 2.5% period on period (PoP) – the highest of all the titles – the Sun managed to add an extra 51,000 copies, taking its total to a little over 2.1 million.

However, a -6.6% drop over the year meant that the paper was down 150,000 copies on August last year.

All other titles in the popular market recorded slight gains in circulation, with the Daily Record and Daily Star both up 1.2% PoP and the Daily Mirror up 0.4%. All titles suffered huge losses over the year, however, down -16%, -14% and -8%, respectively.

The only other title to record an increase in circulation in August was the Daily Mail, up a marginal 0.2% to add an extra 3,800; however, similarly, the paper was hit hard over the year and dropped 123,400 copies.

All titles in the quality market recorded period and yearly losses except for the Times, which was up 1.3% year on year (YoY) – the only daily title to report an increase in yearly circulation.

Overall the daily titles were up 0.7% PoP, but down -7.6% YoY.

London Free Press

City A.M. continued its decline with a -15% drop in circulation over the year, equating to a loss just short of 20,000 copies. The title was also down -0.6% over the month.

Once again, Metro (London) was the only title to record a monthly increase in circulation in August, up 0.3% to add an extra 2,000 copies, and also recorded a 1% year on year rise, adding an extra 7,400.

While the Evening Standard was up considerably over the year as a result of extending its print run, the title was down -2% over the month, dropping almost 18,000 copies.

Sunday titles

There was slightly better news for the Sunday titles with all but one recording slight to modest period on period increases.

Up 4%, the Sunday Mail recorded the biggest percentage increase over the month, followed by the Daily Star Sunday, up 2.8% and the Independent on Sunday, up 2.4%; however a 2.3% PoP rise meant that the Sunday Mirror added an extra 21,300 copies – a significantly greater amount than any other title.

While the popular market made some notable gains in circulation, the mid market remained relatively flat, with the Sunday Express up 0.6% PoP, the Sunday Post up 0.4% PoP and the Mail on Sunday recording no change at all.

The Guardian‘s Sunday edition, the Observer, was the only title to see its circulation drop over the month, however a small -0.2% decrease meant that the paper only lost 424 copies.

Similar to the dailies, the yearly figures paint a much less healthier picture for the Sunday titles, with not one recording an increase in circulation.

The biggest yearly losses belonged to the Sunday Mail (-17.4%), the Daily Star Sunday (-12.3%) and the Sunday Post (-12.2%).