National Newspaper ABC Round-Up – April 2001
Month on Month
National newspaper circulation data for April 2001 has now been released. The figures reveal that the loss sustained in circulation across all titles has not been too severe in a month on month analysis, falling just 0.5% or just over 120,000.
The greatest loss in terms of percentage change in circulation was at the Financial Times, which lost 4.3% of its circulation month on month. The title also had the biggest loss in terms of numbers, over 21,000, although this was closely followed by the Sun
The Mail on Sunday lost over 15,000 readers month on month, as its war against the Sunday Express, saw celebrity magazines become weapons, continues. The Sunday Express’ OK magazine promotion helped push circulation up by well over 45,000, tipping the million mark, while its daily sister paper dropped 6,000, taking it below the million again. The Mail on Sunday fell over 41,500.
| National Newspaper April 2001 ABC Monthly Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Mar 2001 | April 2001 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 974,714 | 983,890 | 9,176 | 0.9 |
| Daily Mail | 2,403,754 | 2,445,421 | 41,667 | 1.7 |
| Daily Record | 602,249 | 600,285 | -1,964 | -0.3 |
| Daily Star | 569,883 | 588,727 | 18,844 | 3.3 |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,019,290 | 1,020,800 | 1,510 | 0.1 |
| Financial Times | 503,766 | 482,086 | -21,680 | -4.3 |
| Guardian | 399,696 | 401,665 | 1,969 | 0.5 |
| Independent | 225,606 | 226,007 | 401 | 0.2 |
| Independent On Sunday | 252,104 | 250,514 | -1,590 | -0.6 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,404,238 | 2,388,529 | -15,709 | -0.7 |
| Mirror | 2,189,085 | 2,217,761 | 28,676 | 1.3 |
| News Of The World | 4,001,054 | 4,039,298 | 38,244 | 1.0 |
| Observer | 451,834 | 450,410 | -1,424 | -0.3 |
| Racing Post | 68,061 | 80,550 | 12,489 | 18.3 |
| Sport First | 76,914 | 80,069 | 3,155 | 4.1 |
| Sun | 3,514,787 | 3,493,559 | -21,228 | -0.6 |
| Sunday Business | 57,948 | 55,586 | -2,362 | -4.1 |
| Sunday Express | 962,707 | 1,008,572 | 45,865 | 4.8 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,845,231 | 1,844,799 | -432 | -0.0 |
| Sunday People | 1,415,129 | 1,404,914 | -10,215 | -0.7 |
| Sunday Sport | 193,723 | 185,593 | -8,130 | -4.2 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 812,452 | 809,615 | -2,837 | -0.3 |
| Sunday Times | 1,371,785 | 1,394,107 | 22,322 | 1.6 |
| Times | 715,079 | 711,365 | -3,714 | -0.5 |
| Total | 27,031,089 | 27,154,946 | 123,857 | 0.5 |
Year on Year
Quality Market
In a year on year analysis of the quality market, the Financial Times and Observer saw the biggest gains, with the former seeing an 8% improvement in circulation, representing just under 36,000 added to its total, while the latter saw a 7.9% year on year percentage increase, with 32,000 added.
At the other end of the scale, the largest drop in percentage increase terms was seen at the relatively new financial title Sunday Business, which has failed to emulate the success of its fellow pink paper, dropping 19.6% year on year. The worst fall in actual circulation number was at the Daily Telegraph, which shed 15,000, leaving it with a total of just over 1 million.
| Quality Market Nov 00 – Apr 01 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Nov 99-Apr 00 | Nov 00-Apr 01 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,032,054 | 1,017,046 | -15,008 | -1.5 |
| Financial Times | 449,947 | 485,812 | 35,865 | 8.0 |
| Guardian | 395,736 | 398,510 | 2,774 | 0.7 |
| Independent | 223,940 | 227,223 | 3,283 | 1.5 |
| Independent On Sunday | 250,141 | 250,326 | 185 | 0.1 |
| Observer | 410,885 | 443,146 | 32,261 | 7.9 |
| Sunday Business | 68,587 | 55,176 | -13,411 | -19.6 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 816,474 | 806,345 | -10,129 | -1.2 |
| Sunday Times | 1,370,185 | 1,388,074 | 17,889 | 1.3 |
| Times | 719,803 | 719,430 | -373 | -0.1 |
| Total | 5,737,752 | 5,791,088 | 53,336 | 0.9 |
Mid Market
Overall the mid market remained fairly stable in a year on year analysis, losing just 0.1% of its total circulation. However, within these figures there continues to be a clear division between the ongoing success of the Mail titles and the ongoing decline of the Express titles.
The Daily Express once again achieved a circulation below the 1m mark, with 986,000, down a little less than 60,000 or 5.6% on the same period last year. The Sunday Express saw a 4% reduction, dropping 40,000 to 932,000.
The Daily Mail saw a less dramatic change, addding 1.8% or 41,000 to its circulation, which now stands at 2.4m. The Sunday Mail added around 50,000 or 2.2% to reach 2.35m.
| Mid Market Nov 00 – Apr 01 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Nov 99-Apr 00 | Nov 00-Apr 01 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 1,045,951 | 986,970 | -58,981 | -5.6 |
| Daily Mail | 2,362,855 | 2,404,243 | 41,388 | 1.8 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,301,076 | 2,351,040 | 49,964 | 2.2 |
| Sunday Express | 971,465 | 932,167 | -39,298 | -4.0 |
| Total | 6,681,347 | 6,674,420 | -6,927 | -0.1 |
Popular Market
The popular market slipped 2.8% in a year on year comparison, with all but one title seeing a reduced circulation. The exception was the Daily Star, which added 8.6%.
The largest loss was at the Sunday People, which haemorrhaged well over 100,000 or 7.2% of its circulation. The Sunday Mirror only lost a little less from its circulation total, with a reduction of 5.3%.
| Popular Market Nov 00 – Apr 01 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Nov 99 – Apr 00 | Nov 00 – Apr 01 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Record | 626,714 | 601,488 | -25,226 | -4.0 |
| Daily Star | 512,161 | 556,381 | 44,220 | 8.6 |
| Mirror | 2,253,118 | 2,176,272 | -76,846 | -3.4 |
| News Of The World | 4,065,402 | 3,977,974 | -87,428 | -2.2 |
| Racing Post | 76,817 | 72,184 | -4,633 | -6.0 |
| Sport First | 87,297 | 81,065 | -6,232 | -7.1 |
| Sun | 3,545,151 | 3,508,754 | -36,397 | -1.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,944,386 | 1,841,931 | -102,455 | -5.3 |
| Sunday People | 1,556,038 | 1,443,912 | -112,126 | -7.2 |
| Sunday Sport | 201,962 | 194,908 | -7,054 | -3.5 |
| Total | 14,869,046 | 14,454,869 | -414,177 | -2.8 |
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