National Newspaper ABC Round-Up – August 2000
Month On Month National newspapers showed an slight increase in sales during August. Overall the sector rose by just 0.9% in a month on month analysis, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) with most titles showing small rises.
The exception was Sport First, this month’s best performer, which increased its circulation base by 31% during August. Overall the greatest monthly increases came from the tabloids with the Sunday Sport (up 8%) and the Daily Star (up 3.6%) showing significant rises.
Losses were heaviest at the Sunday Business which fell 6.2%, a dip in sales of over 3,000 copies. The Daily Mail and the Mail On Sunday both suffered, falling 2.6% and 3.6% respectively.
| National Newspaper August 2000 ABC Monthly Comparisons | ||||
| Title | July 2000 | Aug 2000 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 1,032,361 | 1,039,738 | 7,377 | 0.7 |
| Daily Mail | 2,420,112 | 2,357,778 | -62,334 | -2.6 |
| Daily Record | 611,031 | 625,181 | 14,150 | 2.3 |
| Daily Star | 540,642 | 560,070 | 19,428 | 3.6 |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,023,793 | 1,025,027 | 1,234 | 0.1 |
| Financial Times | 446,359 | 446,969 | 610 | 0.1 |
| Guardian | 390,841 | 387,719 | -3,122 | -0.8 |
| Independent | 222,950 | 223,608 | 658 | 0.3 |
| Independent On Sunday | 237,080 | 241,025 | 3,945 | 1.7 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,322,065 | 2,239,062 | -83,003 | -3.6 |
| Mirror | 2,298,858 | 2,314,335 | 15,477 | 0.7 |
| News Of The World | 4,018,174 | 4,108,833 | 90,659 | 2.3 |
| Observer | 430,340 | 436,152 | 5,812 | 1.4 |
| Racing Post | 77,256 | 80,592 | 3,336 | 4.3 |
| Sport First | 57,733 | 75,782 | 18,049 | 31.3 |
| Sun | 3,589,773 | 3,746,636 | 156,863 | 4.4 |
| Sunday Business | 59,243 | 55,570 | -3,673 | -6.2 |
| Sunday Express | 951,782 | 969,009 | 17,227 | 1.8 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,930,810 | 1,944,633 | 13,823 | 0.7 |
| Sunday People | 1,508,868 | 1,527,926 | 19,058 | 1.3 |
| Sunday Sport | 193,536 | 209,007 | 15,471 | 8.0 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 801,872 | 801,300 | -572 | -0.1 |
| Sunday Times | 1,312,513 | 1,307,892 | -4,621 | -0.4 |
| Times | 719,632 | 710,562 | -9,070 | -1.3 |
| Total | 26,165,263 | 26,394,668 | 229,405 | 0.9 |
Year On Year
Quality Market The quality market again saw increases across its business titles in a year on year analysis with Financial Times (up 19%) and Sunday Business (up 15%) showing impressive increases. The rest of the titles remained pretty static, with the exception of the Observer, which rose 6.4%.
| Quality Market Mar 00-Aug ’00 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Mar 99 – Aug 99 | Mar 00 – Aug 00 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,043,988 | 1,030,580 | -13,408 | -1.3 |
| Financial Times | 386,180 | 458,898 | 72,718 | 18.8 |
| Guardian | 392,617 | 393,066 | 449 | 0.1 |
| Independent | 223,879 | 224,510 | 631 | 0.3 |
| Independent On Sunday | 245,269 | 245,426 | 157 | 0.1 |
| Observer | 395,385 | 420,542 | 25,157 | 6.4 |
| Sunday Business | 55,338 | 63,486 | 8,148 | 14.7 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 819,205 | 804,923 | -14,282 | -1.7 |
| Sunday Times | 1,347,724 | 1,347,194 | -530 | -0.0 |
| Times | 727,083 | 718,672 | -8,411 | -1.2 |
| Total | 5,636,668 | 5,707,297 | 70,629 | 1.3 |
Mid Market The mid-market again remained static in a year on year analysis, dropping just 0.4%. The Express titles both fell by 2.7% while the Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday showed slight increases.
| Mid Market Mar’00-Aug ’00 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Mar 99 – Aug 99 | Mar 00 – Aug 00 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 1,090,891 | 1,061,873 | -29,018 | -2.7 |
| Daily Mail | 2,357,466 | 2,379,904 | 22,438 | 1.0 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,269,257 | 2,278,392 | 9,135 | 0.4 |
| Sunday Express | 1,000,003 | 973,250 | -26,753 | -2.7 |
| Total | 6,717,617 | 6,693,419 | -24,198 | -0.4 |
Popular Market Although increased sales were seen across the popular market in a monthly analysis, yearly the market fell 3.2% with all but two titles sustaining losses. Only the Daily Star and the Racing Post increased their circulation bases, with the heaviest losses recorded by the Sunday People (down 6.1%) and the Sunday Sport (down 5.6%).
| Popular Market Mar 00-Aug ’00 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Mar 99 – Aug 99 | Mar 00 – Aug 00 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Record | 648,617 | 617,623 | -30,994 | -4.8 |
| Daily Star | 523,699 | 529,574 | 5,875 | 1.1 |
| Mirror | 2,341,123 | 2,270,545 | -70,578 | -3.0 |
| News Of The World | 4,131,393 | 4,015,147 | -116,246 | -2.8 |
| Racing Post | 80,816 | 82,543 | 1,727 | 2.1 |
| Sport First | 69,984 | 68,959 | -1,025 | -1.5 |
| Sun | 3,714,291 | 3,593,232 | -121,059 | -3.3 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,974,268 | 1,925,571 | -48,697 | -2.5 |
| Sunday People | 1,616,255 | 1,517,824 | -98,431 | -6.1 |
| Sunday Sport | 210,126 | 198,380 | -11,746 | -5.6 |
| Total | 15,310,572 | 14,819,398 | -491,174 | -3.2 |
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