NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: April 2007
Daily Newspaper Market
It was a mixed picture across the board for Britain’s national daily newspapers for the six months to April 2007, with an overall year on year readership decline for the period of 0.6%.
In the Quality daily sector, the Times was the only title to record a loss, down more than 5% to leave its readership just shy of 1.8 million.
The Daily Mail in the Mid-Market also saw a decline, whilst the Daily Record and the Sun shed readers in the Popular daily sector.
Quality Daily Titles
In the Quality daily sector, the Times shed 96,000 readers to leave its readership just shy of 1.8 million.
All other titles felt an upturn, with the Daily Telegraph feeling the greatest actual rise, of more than 80.000, to leave its total at more than 2.1 million. The Independent saw a 4.4% boost year on year for the period, leaving its total readership at 826,000.
Meanwhile, the Guardian‘s final readership figure jumped 1% year on year for the six months to April 2007. It now attracts more than 1.2 million readers in Britain to its print incarnation.
Mid-Market Daily Titles
The Daily Mail shed almost 7% from its total readership year on year for the period, down 370,000 readers in real terms. The title remains by far the market leader in the sector, however, with a total NRS figure of almost 5.1 million.
The Daily Express meanwhile saw an almost 3% increase in its total, rising by just over 50,000 readers to around 1.8 million.
Popular Daily Titles
In the Popular Daily sector, it was a mixed picture, with the Daily Mirror experiencing the most significant boost to its readership.
The title added almost 200,000 new readers, more than 5% of its total year on year for the period, to leave it with more than 3.9 million readers.
The Daily Star also bolstered its readership. The title saw an upturn of 6% to leave it with just short of 1.7 million readers.
The Daily Record was down more than 8% year on year for the period, to leave its total a little short of 1.1 million, whilst the Sun dropped 1.1%. It remains the most read national daily title, however, with an NRS figure of just under eight million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – Nov 06-Apr 07 | ||||
| Daily Titles | Nov 05-Apr 06 | Nov 06-Apr 07 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,068,000 | 2,151,000 | 83,000 | 4.0 |
| Guardian | 1,232,000 | 1,244,000 | 12,000 | 1.0 |
| Independent | 791,000 | 826,000 | 35,000 | 4.4 |
| Times | 1,877,000 | 1,781,000 | -96,000 | -5.1 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 1,754,000 | 1,805,000 | 51,000 | 2.9 |
| Daily Mail | 5,454,000 | 5,084,000 | -370,000 | -6.8 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 3,768,000 | 3,966,000 | 198,000 | 5.3 |
| Daily Record | 1,163,000 | 1,069,000 | -94,000 | -8.1 |
| Daily Star | 1,588,000 | 1,683,000 | 95,000 | 6.0 |
| Sun | 8,080,000 | 7,992,000 | -88,000 | -1.1 |
| Total Daily | 27,775,000 | 27,601,000 | -174,000 | -0.6 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday newspaper market suffered a year on year decline of 1.6% for the six months to April 2007, an actual decline of almost 500,000.
The largest decline of the Sunday titles was felt by the Mail On Sunday, which shed just over 415,000 readers year on year.
The largest increase in readership in the Sunday market was enjoyed by the Sunday Mirror, which was up almost 5.5% or 220,000 readers.
Quality Sunday Titles
The Independent On Sunday recorded the largest increase in readership in the Sunday Quality sector, of over 25,000 readers year on year. Its total figure now stands at just under 835,000 readers.
The Observer was also up year on year, by just under 15,000 readers, giving it a total readership a little shy of 1.5 million.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Times were both down year on year, by around 70,000 and 30,000 readers respectively.
The Sunday Telegraph now commands a total readership of over 1.8 million, whilst the Times‘ readership stands at more than 3.5 million.
Mid-Market Sunday Titles
In the Mid-Market, the Mail On Sunday and the Sunday Express both suffered year on year declines.
The Mail On Sunday was down by almost 7% year on year, leaving it with a readership of more than 5.7 million.
The Sunday Express was down by just over 3.5% year on year, to leave its total at just over two million readers.
Popular Sunday Titles
In the Popular Sunday sector, the Sunday Mirror registered the strongest performance for the period, adding 220,000 readers year on year to give it a total of more than 4.3 million readers.
The News Of The World also saw a year on year increase in readers, of more than 25,000, taking its total to over 8.4 million.
The Daily Star Sunday stayed relatively static, with its total readership figure at just under 960,000.
The only title in the Sunday Popular sector to record a decline in readers was the People, which was down by 10% year on year leaving its total readership at just over 1.7 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – Nov 06-Apr 07 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | Nov 05-Apr 06 | Nov 06-Apr 07 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday | 807,000 | 834,000 | 27,000 | 3.3 |
| Observer | 1,461,000 | 1,475,000 | 14,000 | 1.0 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 1,917,000 | 1,849,000 | -68,000 | -3.5 |
| Sunday Times | 3,580,000 | 3,551,000 | -29,000 | -0.8 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday | 6,185,000 | 5,769,000 | -416,000 | -6.7 |
| Sunday Express | 2,102,000 | 2,027,000 | -75,000 | -3.6 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 957,000 | 958,000 | 1,000 | 0.1 |
| News Of The World | 8,404,000 | 8,430,000 | 26,000 | 0.3 |
| People | 1,907,000 | 1,717,000 | -190,000 | -10.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,104,000 | 4,324,000 | 220,000 | 5.4 |
| Total Sunday | 31,424,000 | 30,934,000 | -490,000 | -1.6 |
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