National newspaper ABCs: January 2016

Daily market

Four daily titles recorded an increase in circulation in January – including newly-sold i – with the overall market remaining fairly stable over the month.

The i newspaper, which was bought by Johnston Press last week for £24 million, was up 1.3% in January to sell 272,000 copies. The title was also down just -3% year on year – one of the lesser declines of all daily titles.

Up 4.1%, Richard Desmond’s Daily Star saw sales increase the most, adding 18,600 copies to its circulation, followed by the Daily Express in the mid-market, which was up 2% to sell an extra 8,000 copies.

Meanwhile, early morning freebie Metro (Mediatel’s reporting will now include Metro’s entire national footprint) was up a small 0.2% to shift 1.35 million copies.

The Independent, which will publish its last printed copy at the end of March after announcing a move to online-only, was down -1.6% compared with December with a circulation of just 55,200. The title now sells one third of what the Guardian (164,200) – the second lowest-performing national daily paper – manages.

Although stable over the month, Trinity Mirror’s flagship daily title saw sales drop -12.3% over the year (-113,000) – perhaps influencing its decision to launch a new cut-price tabloid in the coming weeks.

The Financial Times recorded the greatest decline over the month, down -5.3% and dropping 11,000 copies to 198,000.

All other decreases across the daily market were marginal, resulting in a period decline of just -0.2%.

Free press, London market

Despite talk of another financial meltdown on the horizon, City A.M. was not shifting any extra copies in January.

The London free-sheet was down -1.5% period on period and down -6.7% year-on-year. The title is currently handing out a little under 97,300 copies across the capital.

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The London Evening Standard was on the up, however, giving away an extra 41,000 copies (+4.8%) compared with December. It was also up 2.4% YoY.

The title has a current circulation of 898,400.

Meanwhile, the Metro (London) is stable with just a 0.3% PoP increase. The title, which is picked up by almost 765,000 grumpy Londoners each working day, was up 0.6% YoY.

Sunday market

The Sunday market ended 2015 on the back foot, with declines recorded for all but one title in December. However, January’s ABC results show a more stable picture.

In the quality market, soon-to-be-defunct Independent on Sunday was hit hardest, down -1.4% period on period, and down -6.1% over the year. As the title faces imminent closure, it looks to end its time in print with a circulation a little over 90,000.

No doubt watching its lefty competitor like a hawk, The Observer was also down in January, although only by -0.2% PoP. Its year-on-year performance, however, was the worst in the quality market – shedding more than 15,000 copies (a -7.6% decline).

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph both recorded PoP gains – up 1% and 1.1%, respectively. Both titles recorded YoY drops, however.

The Sunday Times was down -3.9% (31,300 copies), whilst the Sunday Telegraph was down -6.9% (26,300).

In the mid-market the Sunday Express performed better than usual, shifting 14,400 more copies than in December (+4%), while the Mail on Sunday was up by just 0.2%.

The Sunday Post was down -1.3%, and a substantial -12.9% over the year.

In the popular market the Sun on Sunday, the Sunday Mirror and Daily Star Sunday were up in January – 1.3%, 1% and 0.7%, respectively.

The remaining two titles saw very slight declines over the month.

The picture year-on-year was more to worry about, however, with all titles selling considerably less than in 2015.

Only the Daily Star Sunday bucked the trend – up 12.7%.

Overall, the Sunday newspaper market was up 0.8% PoP and down -7% over the year.