National Newspaper ABC Round-Up – February 2001
Month On Month
Figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for February 2001 show that national newspaper circulation fell by 1.1% month on month. Most titles saw a drop in their circulation base during the period, with just eight newspapers bucking the trend.
The worst performers were the Sun, which saw a 3.7% dip in sales to 3.5m and the Daily Mail, down 3.5% to 2.4m. The Guardian also took a tumble, down 3.2% to just under the 400,000 mark.
On the up were the two Mirror titles: the Daily Mirror put on 2.9% to 2.2m and the Sunday Mirror added 2.6% to its circulation base, which now stands at 1.9m.
| National Newspaper February 2001 ABC Monthly Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 2001 | Feb 2001 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 979,042 | 950,523 | -28,519 | -2.9 |
| Daily Mail | 2,479,768 | 2,394,052 | -85,716 | -3.5 |
| Daily Record | 603,914 | 601,639 | -2,275 | -0.4 |
| Daily Star | 543,807 | 556,502 | 12,695 | 2.3 |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,022,263 | 1,010,620 | -11,643 | -1.1 |
| Financial Times | 478,161 | 476,341 | -1,820 | -0.4 |
| Guardian | 410,152 | 396,886 | -13,266 | -3.2 |
| Independent | 223,645 | 223,958 | 313 | 0.1 |
| Independent On Sunday | 250,462 | 251,124 | 662 | 0.3 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,373,007 | 2,318,537 | -54,470 | -2.3 |
| Mirror | 2,149,422 | 2,212,073 | 62,651 | 2.9 |
| News Of The World | 4,026,288 | 3,992,556 | -33,732 | -0.8 |
| Observer | 440,090 | 443,198 | 3,108 | 0.7 |
| Racing Post | 70,653 | 71,519 | 866 | 1.2 |
| Sport First | 82,816 | 79,901 | -2,915 | -3.5 |
| Sun | 3,626,561 | 3,494,108 | -132,453 | -3.7 |
| Sunday Business | 53,989 | 53,571 | -418 | -0.8 |
| Sunday Express | 879,622 | 875,724 | -3,898 | -0.4 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,831,572 | 1,879,867 | 48,295 | 2.6 |
| Sunday People | 1,489,260 | 1,446,996 | -42,264 | -2.8 |
| Sunday Sport | 198,263 | 196,147 | -2,116 | -1.1 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 796,840 | 805,385 | 8,545 | 1.1 |
| Sunday Times | 1,416,080 | 1,394,381 | -21,699 | -1.5 |
| Times | 734,220 | 723,228 | -10,992 | -1.5 |
| Total | 27,159,897 | 26,848,836 | -282,542 | -1.1 |
Year On Year
Quality Market
Sales of broadsheet newspapers are on the increase, according to the latest ABC figures. In a year on year analysis, the market was up 1.6% to reach a total sales figure of 5.8m.
Best performer by far was the Financial Times, which saw sales improve by 10.7% during the period. The recent revamp of the Sunday Business will hopefully improve its poor sales performance: the title lost almost 15% of its circulation base in a yearly analysis.
| Quality Market Sept 00 – Feb 01 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Sept 99 – Feb 00 | Sept 00 – Feb 01 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,033,987 | 1,018,334 | -15,653 | -1.5 |
| Financial Times | 432,485 | 478,863 | 46,378 | 10.7 |
| Guardian | 397,830 | 399,103 | 1,273 | 0.3 |
| Independent | 224,609 | 229,919 | 5,310 | 2.4 |
| Independent On Sunday | 251,133 | 251,737 | 604 | 0.2 |
| Observer | 413,489 | 444,407 | 30,918 | 7.5 |
| Sunday Business | 64,858 | 55,269 | -9,589 | -14.8 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 822,124 | 805,437 | -16,687 | -2.0 |
| Sunday Times | 1,363,969 | 1,398,019 | 34,050 | 2.5 |
| Times | 727,901 | 723,602 | -4,299 | -0.6 |
| Total | 5,691,007 | 5,780,285 | 89,278 | 1.6 |
Mid Market Titles
The mid market newspaper sector saw a slight dip in overall sales in a year on year analysis, down 0.6%. The worst casualties were again the Express titles which continue to suffer under new owners Northern & Shell. Sales of the Daily Express declined by a further 3.5%, while the Sunday Express lost 4.3% of its circulation base.
| Mid Market Sept 00 – Jan 01 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Sept 99 – Feb 00 | Sept 00 – Feb 01 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 1,047,355 | 1,010,720 | -36,635 | -3.5 |
| Daily Mail | 2,370,731 | 2,394,889 | 24,158 | 1.0 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,321,188 | 2,313,582 | -7,606 | -0.3 |
| Sunday Express | 972,395 | 930,392 | -42,003 | -4.3 |
| Total | 6,701,368 | 6,660,026 | -41,342 | -0.6 |
Popular Market
Sales of tabloid newspapers suffered the greatest losses in a year on year analysis, down 2.1%. Only the Daily Star managed to add significantly to its circulation base, up 6.5% to just under 550,000.
Sunday titles were the worst affected: the Sunday Mirror fell 5.2%, the Sunday People was down 5.8% and the Sport fell 4.1%. Sports newspaper Sport First was the worst casualty however, down 11.4% to just over 81,000.
| Popular Market Sept 00 – Feb 01 ABC YoY Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Sept 99 – Feb 00 | Sept 00 – Feb 01 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Record | 634,026 | 609,229 | -24,797 | -3.9 |
| Daily Star | 513,882 | 547,057 | 33,175 | 6.5 |
| Mirror | 2,280,244 | 2,205,884 | -74,360 | -3.3 |
| News Of The World | 4,102,787 | 4,009,724 | -93,063 | -2.3 |
| Racing Post | 72,881 | 72,486 | -395 | -0.5 |
| Sport First | 91,847 | 81,336 | -10,511 | -11.4 |
| Sun | 3,568,695 | 3,572,506 | 3,811 | 0.1 |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,980,646 | 1,877,524 | -103,122 | -5.2 |
| Sunday People | 1,572,980 | 1,482,172 | -90,808 | -5.8 |
| Sunday Sport | 207,189 | 198,731 | -8,458 | -4.1 |
| Total | 15,077,573 | 14,767,887 | -309,686 | -2.1 |
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