ABCs April: General election fails to impact newspaper sales
The relentless general election coverage during April appears to have had little impact on national newspaper circulations, according to the latest ABC release, with no titles recording any significant changes compared with the previous month.
Daily titles
The Telegraph recorded the greatest increase, up 1.4% to sell an extra 6,700, while all other titles in the quality market remained fairly static.
In the mid market, a -1.7% period decline lost the Daily Express 7,700 average daily sales, while a small 0.3% rise gave the Daily Mail an extra 4,800.
A -1.8% decline in sales meant that the Daily Mirror was down 16,200 copies compared with March, while sales of the Sun, despite its incessant Miliband-bashing, remained entirely flat.
Overall the daily market was down -0.2% over the month and -7.8% over the year.
London Free Press
The London free press also recorded little change, with City A.M. down -0.3% period on period, the Evening Standard down -0.7% and Metro down -0.4%.
In terms of yearly declines, City A.M. was the only title to record any notable change, down -7.9%.
Sunday titles
Things were slightly more noteworthy in the Sunday market in March, with a 2.3% period increase – the greatest of all the markets – netting the Sunday Times an extra 18,200 sales.
Elsewhere in the quality market the Independent on Sunday was up 2%, while the Observer recorded a very modest 1.2% increase.
The only other change worth reporting belonged to the Sunday People in the popular market, which saw circulation decrease by -1.9% in April, dropping a little over 6,100 copies.
Thanks to the minor celebrations in the quality market, the Sunday press was up 0.1% overall – an extra 8,100 compared with March.
| Daily Titles | Apr-14 | Mar-15 | Apr-15 | YoY Actual Change | YoY % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Daily | 7,626,000 | 7,043,220 | 7,028,346 | -597,654 | -7.8 | -14,874 | -0.2 |
| Quality | |||||||
| Daily Telegraph | 523,048 | 479,290 | 486,025 | -37,023 | -7.1 | 6,735 | 1.4 |
| Financial Times | 230,470 | 213,423 | 212,489 | -17,981 | -7.8 | -934 | -0.4 |
| Guardian | 193,228 | 174,941 | 176,157 | -17,071 | -8.8 | 1,216 | 0.7 |
| i | 292,801 | 273,853 | 275,940 | -16,861 | -5.8 | 2,087 | 0.8 |
| Independent | 63,907 | 58,751 | 59,148 | -4,759 | -7.4 | 397 | 0.7 |
| Times | 394,448 | 390,962 | 393,826 | -622 | -0.2 | 2,864 | 0.7 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Daily Express | 488,246 | 445,245 | 437,553 | -50,693 | -10.4 | -7,692 | -1.7 |
| Daily Mail | 1,708,006 | 1,626,322 | 1,631,117 | -76,889 | -4.5 | 4,795 | 0.3 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Mirror | 962,670 | 897,786 | 881,545 | -81,125 | -8.4 | -16,241 | -1.8 |
| Daily Record | 222,919 | 200,127 | 196,861 | -26,058 | -11.7 | -3,266 | -1.6 |
| Daily Star | 476,448 | 424,453 | 419,985 | -56,463 | -11.9 | -4,468 | -1.1 |
| Sun | 2,069,809 | 1,858,067 | 1,857,700 | -212,109 | -10.2 | -367 | -0.0 |
| London Free Press | Apr-14 | Mar-15 | Apr-15 | YoY Actual Change | YoY % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total London Press | 1,773,010 | 1,774,767 | 1,764,719 | -8,291 | -0.5 | -10,048 | -0.6 |
| City A.M | 118,012 | 108,983 | 108,694 | -9,318 | -7.9 | -289 | -0.3 |
| London Evening Standard | 897,610 | 903,299 | 896,830 | -780 | -0.1 | -6,469 | -0.7 |
| Metro (London) | 757,388 | 762,485 | 759,195 | 1,807 | 0.2 | -3,290 | -0.4 |
| Sunday Titles | Apr-14 | Mar-15 | Apr-15 | YoY Actual Change | YoY % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sunday | 7,286,424 | 6,581,986 | 6,590,064 | -696,360 | -9.6 | 8,078 | 0.1 |
| Quality | |||||||
| Independent On Sunday | 100,549 | 96,571 | 98,506 | -2,043 | -2.0 | 1,935 | 2.0 |
| Observer | 214,644 | 194,054 | 196,420 | -18,224 | -8.5 | 2,366 | 1.2 |
| Sunday Times | 839,077 | 790,442 | 808,652 | -30,425 | -3.6 | 18,210 | 2.3 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 418,670 | 374,283 | 370,845 | -47,825 | -11.4 | -3,438 | -0.9 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Mail On Sunday | 1,555,977 | 1,444,397 | 1,447,245 | -108,732 | -7.0 | 2,848 | 0.2 |
| Sunday Express | 423,753 | 384,969 | 385,365 | -38,388 | -9.1 | 396 | 0.1 |
| Sunday Post | 208,138 | 182,779 | 182,387 | -25,751 | -12.4 | -392 | -0.2 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 292,368 | 256,131 | 254,238 | -38,130 | -13.0 | -1,893 | -0.7 |
| Sunday People | 370,354 | 329,757 | 323,608 | -46,746 | -12.6 | -6,149 | -1.9 |
| Sun on Sunday | 1,686,840 | 1,474,959 | 1,473,971 | -212,869 | -12.6 | -988 | -0.1 |
| Sunday Mail | 248,507 | 218,463 | 215,780 | -32,727 | -13.2 | -2,683 | -1.2 |
| Sunday Mirror | 927,547 | 835,181 | 833,047 | -94,500 | -10.2 | -2,134 | -0.3 |
| Daily Titles | Nov 13 – Apr 14 | Oct 14 – Mar 15 | Nov 14 – Apr 15 | YoY Actual Change | YoY % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Daily | 7,761,917 | 7,170,278 | 7,123,076 | -638,841 | -8.2 | -47,202 | -0.7 |
| Quality | |||||||
| Daily Telegraph | 537,813 | 488,032 | 486,011 | -51,802 | -9.6 | -2,021 | -0.4 |
| Financial Times | 234,833 | 215,123 | 214,128 | -20,705 | -8.8 | -995 | -0.5 |
| Guardian | 199,357 | 178,180 | 177,716 | -21,641 | -10.9 | -464 | -0.3 |
| i | 296,069 | 279,220 | 277,880 | -18,189 | -6.1 | -1,340 | -0.5 |
| Independent | 66,368 | 60,238 | 59,865 | -6,503 | -9.8 | -373 | -0.6 |
| Times | 387,027 | 391,347 | 391,474 | 4,447 | 1.1 | 127 | 0.0 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Daily Express | 500,418 | 453,860 | 450,085 | -50,333 | -10.1 | -3,775 | -0.8 |
| Daily Mail | 1,741,481 | 1,650,481 | 1,645,981 | -95,500 | -5.5 | -4,500 | -0.3 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Mirror | 979,624 | 911,295 | 902,656 | -76,968 | -7.9 | -8,639 | -0.9 |
| Daily Record | 227,892 | 202,186 | 201,050 | -26,842 | -11.8 | -1,136 | -0.6 |
| Daily Star | 494,180 | 431,661 | 426,706 | -67,474 | -13.7 | -4,955 | -1.1 |
| Sun | 2,096,855 | 1,908,655 | 1,889,524 | -207,331 | -9.9 | -19,131 | -1.0 |
| Sunday Titles | Nov 13 – Apr 14 | Oct 14 – Mar 15 | Nov 14 – Apr 15 | YoY Actual Change | YoY % Change | PoP Actual Change | PoP % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sunday | 7,462,916 | 6,764,764 | 6,698,498 | -764,418 | -10.2 | -66,266 | -1.0 |
| Quality | |||||||
| Independent On Sunday | 102,980 | 97,814 | 97,362 | -5,618 | -5.5 | -452 | -0.5 |
| Observer | 222,638 | 197,524 | 196,819 | -25,819 | -11.6 | -705 | -0.4 |
| Sunday Times | 828,793 | 795,236 | 795,504 | -33,289 | -4.0 | 268 | 0.0 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 427,739 | 382,164 | 378,326 | -49,413 | -11.6 | -3,838 | -1.0 |
| Mid Market | |||||||
| Sunday Express | 434,923 | 396,680 | 393,443 | -41,480 | -9.5 | -3,237 | -0.8 |
| Mail On Sunday | 1,591,510 | 1,465,406 | 1,458,253 | -133,257 | -8.4 | -7,153 | -0.5 |
| Sunday Post | 218,812 | 191,594 | 186,421 | -32,391 | -14.8 | -5,173 | -2.7 |
| Popular | |||||||
| Daily Star Sunday. | 306,918 | 267,069 | 262,840 | -44,078 | -14.4 | -4,229 | -1.6 |
| Sunday People | 383,070 | 342,220 | 336,045 | -47,025 | -12.3 | -6,175 | -1.8 |
| Sun on Sunday | 1,738,221 | 1,539,076 | 1,517,306 | -220,915 | -12.7 | -21,770 | -1.4 |
| Sunday Mail | 257,668 | 222,710 | 221,123 | -36,545 | -14.2 | -1,587 | -0.7 |
| Sunday Mirror | 949,644 | 867,271 | 855,056 | -94,588 | -10.0 | -12,215 | -1.4 |