Once again the downward trend for the national newspapers continues with the majority of titles losing both circulation and advertising in July.
Qaulity Dailies and Sundays All the qaulity dailies lost circullat- in the previous month . The largest falls were recorded by the Independent (-9.3%) and the Times (-8.4%).
During July only the Daily Telegraph managed to increase its circualtion on the previouse month. This increase (5000) may be attributed to a three- week promotion, offering half-price weelend breaks,wich began on July 10. Among the qaulity Sundays only the Independent on Sunday recorded a year- on-year increase, up by 11.2% on July 1990. The Sunday Telegraph was the only Sunday to record an incease on the previous month, up by 19,000 on June.
The six-monthly circulations, for Febuary to July 1991, show a similar pattern to the monthly figures. Only the Observer (+2.8%) and the IOS (+5.9%) achieved a year-on-year increase.
July 1991 ABCs
| %CH/ | Feb- | %CH/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘000 | Jul’91 | Jul’90 | Jul’91 | F-J’90 |
| D.Tel | 1057 | -2.1 | 1068 | -1.2 |
| FT | 285 | -0.7 | 288 | -1.3 |
| Guard | 405 | -3.1 | 425 | -0.7 |
| Times | 391 | -8.4 | 400 | -7.1 |
| Indpnt | 369 | -9.3 | 387 | -6.5 |
| Obsv | 547 | -0.2 | 567 | 2.8 |
| S.Tel | 574 | -1.9 | 573 | -1.5 |
| S.Tms | 1119 | -1.9 | 1162 | -1.1 |
| IoS | 358 | 11.2 | 377 | 5.9 |
The average monthly pagination figures (MEAL) for July show that most of the qualities have lost advertising, both against July 1991 and June 1991. The figures show the Sunday Telegraph and Observer to have lost substantial amounts of display advertising. The Sunday Telegraph dropped 5 percentage points on July 1990 and the Observer lost 4 percentage points.
The Guardian, while increasing its proportion of display advertising, against the previous year, has lost calssified advertising.
As with its circulation figure the IOS recorded a more promising picture. The main section of the newspaper increased its proportion of display advertising on July 1990 and on June 1991. Ave.Wkly Pagination July’91 vs July’90
| Dsply % | Clsfd % | Total Pages | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ’90 | ’91 | ’90 | ’91 | ’90 | ’91 | %Ch | |
| D.Tel | 21 | 20 | 13 | 10 | 261 | 258 | -1.1 |
| FT | 21 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 262 | 248 | -5.3 |
| Guard | 13 | 15 | 22 | 18 | 220 | 203 | -7.7 |
| W/E Grd | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 48 | 56 | 16.7 |
| Times | 16 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 261 | 229 | -12.3 |
| Tms Rev | – | 28 | – | 11 | – | 48 | n/a |
| Ind | 19 | 19 | 7 | 6 | 219 | 207 | -5.5 |
| Obsv | 27 | 23 | 13 | 12 | 69 | 66 | -4.3 |
| S.Tel | 25 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 57 | 71 | -24.6 |
| S.Tms | 21 | 22 | 27 | 28 | 113 | 78 | -31 |
| Books | 17 | 17 | – | 11 | 18 | 28 | 55.6 |
| Ios Main | 33 | 35 | – | – | 31 | 31 | – |
| Bus | 19 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 29 | 24 | -17.2 |
| Rev | 21 | 22 | 3 | 4 | 64 | 62 | -3.1 |
The Daily Mail appears to be resisting the general downward trend by once again recording an increase in circulation year-on-year, up by 0.3%.
On the other end of the scale Today continues its downward spiral, falling by 18.6% on July 1990.
Despite losing circulation year-on- year, the Daily and Sunday Express were the only mid-markets to gain circulat- ion on June 1991. The Daily Express rose by 3000, while the Sunday Express rose by a substantial 38,000.
The large increase for the Sunday Express may be attributed to the June launch of the tabloid Part 2 section.
The launch was part of an overall revamp for the newspaper, in an effort to prevent the gap between it and the Mail on Sunday widening further.
| %Ch/ | Feb- | %Ch/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘000 | Jul’91 | Jul’90 | Jul’91 | F-J’90 |
| D.Exp | 1563 | -3 | 1561 | -0.6 |
| D.Mail | 1700 | 0.3 | 1714 | 2.1 |
| Today | 469 | -18.6 | 482 | -16.8 |
| Ev.Stnd | 465 | -4.1 | 502 | -1.6 |
| S.Exp | 1676 | -0.6 | 1627 | -4.9 |
| MoS | 1891 | -0.6 | 1915 | 1.5 |
The pagination figures for the mid- markets are more promising than for the qualities.
The proportion of display advertising in the Daily Express and Daily Mail has remained stable year-on-year, while the proportion of classified advertising increased for both titles.
The Sunday Express Part 2 maintained the high level of display and classified advertising it achieved when it launched last month.
The Evening Standard, which has no July 1990 figures for comparison, has exactly the same proportion of display advertising as classified this month.
Ave.Wkly Pagination July’91 vs July’90
| Dsply % | Clsfd % | Total Pages | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ’90 | ’91 | ’90 | ’91 | ’90 | ’91 | %Ch | |
| D.Exp | 32 | 31 | 7 | 8 | 284 | 290 | 2.1 |
| D.Mail | 28 | 28 | 5 | 6 | 279 | 293 | 5 |
| Today | 23 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 257 | 233 | -9.3 |
| Ev.Stnd | – | 21 | – | 21 | – | 293 | n/a |
| S.Exp | 39 | 42 | 8 | 2 | 46 | 32 | -30.4 |
| Part 2 | – | 34 | – | 13 | – | 32 | n/a |
| MoS | 39 | 36 | 10 | 8 | 85 | 94 | 10.6 |
Popular Dailies and Sundays The popular titles appear to have suffered most in the current economic climate. All the titles experienced a year-on-year fall in circulation once again this month.
Among the popular dailies the Daily Star fell the most, recording a decrease of 9.1%. The Daily Mirror followed closely with a fall of 8.9%.
The Sunday Sport and People continue to record dramatic losses; the Sunday Sport fell 12.5% year-on-year during July and the People fell 12.4%. July 1991 ABCs
| %Ch/ | Feb- | %Ch/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘000 | Jul’91 | Jul’90 | Jul’91 | F-J’90 |
| Mirr | 2882 | -8.9 | 2938 | -6.4 |
| Star | 856 | -9.1 | 876 | -5.5 |
| Sun | 3668 | -4.5 | 3682 | -6.2 |
| NoW | 4806 | -2.2 | 4803 | -4.3 |
| S.Mirr | 2751 | -6.5 | 2805 | -4 |
| S.Sprt | 372 | -12.5 | 373 | -15.5 |
| People | 2221 | -12.4 | 2307 | -10.3 |
July’s pagination figures for the popular titles reinforce the picture presented by the circulation figures.
The Daily Star was the only title not to experience a loss in its proportion of display advertising against July 1990.
The Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror have been hit badly, with both titles losing substantial amounts of display advertising year-on-year.
For the majority of the popular titles classified advertising remained stable. News of the World and the People experienced slight increases, with both titles increasing their proportion of classified advertising by 1 percentage point. Ave.Wkly Pagination July’91 vs July’90
| Dsply % | Clsfd % | Total Pages | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ’90 | ’91 | ’90 | ’91 | ’90 | ’91 | %Ch | |
| Mirr | 31 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 211 | 215 | 1.9 |
| Star | 26 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 218 | 223 | 2.3 |
| Sun | 27 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 214 | 245 | 14.5 |
| NoW | 36 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 55 | 54 | -1.8 |
| S.Mirr | 38 | 35 | 3 | 3 | 45 | 45 | – |
| People | 31 | 24 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 41 | -6.8 |
General As yet there are no signs that the national newspapers may be recovering from the downward slide, either through increased circulations or advertising.
During July News International announced a move to increase its below- the-line promotional deals, in an attempt to move away from its dependancy on advertising. Given the current climate it is likely that other publishers will follow suit.
July saw more announcements of new launches in a desperate attempt to retrieve lost circulation and advertising.
The popular titles have taken advantage of the new football season by launching new football pull-out sections.
The Times is due to launch a new Saturday weekend section in September, while the Daily Mail may bring back its magazine Visage.
It is likely that more launches, revamps and changes will be announced in the coming months.
