ABC National newspapers – June 2014

Daily titles

Despite an improved performance on May, only four daily national newspapers reported any growth in June, according to the latest ABC results showing circulation figures for the sector.

The Independent was the best performer, recording 1.7% growth between May and June – however, year on year (YoY), the title suffered one of the largest changes, down -15.4% (-11,600 copies).

Growth amongst the other three top monthly performers was slight, with both the Daily Telegraph and The Times up just 0.2% (996 copies and 787 copies, respectively), whilst the Daily Mirror was up 0.4% (an extra 3,644 copies).

This month’s worst performance, however, belonged to The Sun, down -2.3% (-47,673 copies). The title was also down -10.4% year on year (-235,632 copies).

The Daily Mail also saw circulations drop, with the paper down -2.1% in June (-35,503 copies) and down -6.4% year on year (-114,000).

In the popular market, the Daily Record was also down, -1.9% (-4,178 copies), followed by the Daily Star, down -1.5% (-6,939).

Overall, the daily market was down more than 94,000 copies on May – a drop of -1.2%. Over the year, the market experienced a drop of -8.5%, a little under 700,000 papers.

London Free Press

While the London Evening Standard has previously seen monthly gains in circulation since extending its print run, the title was down -0.8% in June; however, it still managed a strong 27.2% year on year increase – an extra 190,500 copies compared with June 2013.

City A.M. recorded a very small increase in monthly circulation, up 0.1%, while a -0.3% period on period decline meant that the Metro (London) lost 2,600 copies over the month.

Overall, the London Free Press market was down 0.5% on the previous month and up 10.5% over the last year – a healthy addition of almost 169,000 copies combined.

Sunday titles

June proved to be another poor month for the Sunday titles with just three recording any monthly gains.

The Sunday Post reported the biggest period-on-period increase in circulation at 5.3%, adding an extra 11,000 copies; however, the title was down -6.8% year-on-year (YoY).

The Daily Star Sunday saw the second biggest gain in monthly circulation at 0.9%, however, similarly, was down -10.5% YoY. The Sunday Telegraph followed suit with a small 0.3% period on period gain and slightly larger -3.5% YoY decline.

A -4.2% decrease in circulation meant that the Sun on Sunday was June’s worst performer, losing almost 72,400 copies over the month. Compared with this time last year, the newspaper’s Sunday edition was down by almost a quarter of a million.

The Sunday Times reported the second biggest monthly loss in June at 28,800, while the Mail on Sunday reported the second largest yearly loss at 151,000.

Overall, the Sunday titles performed marginally worse in June than the previous month, recording a -1.9% decline and a -9.5% year on year decline (-754,000).