NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: April 2009 – March 2010
Daily Newspaper Market
NRS figures for April 2009 to March 2010 show year on year readership growth for just two titles.
In the Quality sector, the Financial Times was up slightly on last year, while its Quality and Mid-Market rivals all suffered year on year losses.
Only one title in the popular section managed to increase its readership. The Daily Star enjoyed a substantial 11.4% year on year boost.
Quality Daily Titles
The Financial Times saw its readership grow by 0.2% year on year between April 2009 and March 2010, taking it up to a total of 418,000 readers.
The Times, meanwhile, posted a slight 0.1% year on year dip in the period, leaving its total below 1.8 million readers.
The Independent and the Daily Telegraph also suffered a 2.2% and 2.5% year on year fall. The Independent, which was relaunched in April after being taken over by the Russian billionaire and Evening Standard-owner Alexander Lebedev, now has a total of 635,000.
The Daily Telegraph remains ahead in the Quality section, meanwhile, with a total of more than 1.8 million readers.
The Guardian suffered the largest percentage fall in the sector, down 6.8% year on year. Its readership now stands at around 1.1 million.
Mid-Market Daily Titles
In the Mid-Market, the Daily Express lost 1.8% of its readership, taking its total to 1.5 million.
Following a 1.4% year on year fall, the Daily Mail now has just below 4.9 million readers. Despite this, the title remains the second most read national daily newspaper.
Popular Daily Titles
Moving to the popular titles, the Daily Star enjoyed a big year on year increase of 11.4%. The red-top paper now has more than 1.6 million readers.
By comparison, the Daily Record posted a significant 14% year on year decline, which takes its total down to 952,000 copies.
The Daily Mirror suffered a 3.1% year on year fall during the period, although it retains a healthy total of almost 3.4 million readers.
However, the Sun keeps its position as the most read of all the national dailies with over 7.7 million readers, despite a 1.5% year on year decrease.
| Daily Titles | Apr 08-Mar 09 | Apr 09-Mar 10 | Actual Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 1,887,000 | 1,840,000 | -47,000 | -2.5 |
| Financial Times | 417,000 | 418,000 | 1,000 | 0.2 |
| Guardian | 1,206,000 | 1,124,000 | -82,000 | -6.8 |
| Independent | 649,000 | 635,000 | -14,000 | -2.2 |
| Times | 1,770,000 | 1,768,000 | -2,000 | -0.1 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 1,557,000 | 1,529,000 | -28,000 | -1.8 |
| Daily Mail | 4,949,000 | 4,881,000 | -68,000 | -1.4 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 3,489,000 | 3,381,000 | -108,000 | -3.1 |
| Daily Record | 1,107,000 | 952,000 | -155,000 | -14.0 |
| Daily Star | 1,451,000 | 1,617,000 | 166,000 | 11.4 |
| Sun | 7,870,000 | 7,751,000 | -119,000 | -1.5 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
In the Sunday national newspaper market, just three titles have added readers in the past twelve months.
The Observer and the Independent on Sunday suffered the largest percentage falls of all the Sunday papers once again.
Quality Sunday Titles
The Observer witnessed an 11.5% year on year decline, taking it down to 1.2 million readers. The Independent on Sunday saw a similar decline, down by 11.2%, to 600,000 readers.
It was a more positive period for both the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph, which posted year on year increases of 1.4% and 0.1% respectively. The Sunday Telegraph now has a total of almost 1.7 million, while the Sunday Times remains the most-read Sunday Quality with more than 3.2 million readers.
Mid-Market Sunday Titles
Both Mid-Market titles in our analysis lost readers, with the Sunday Express down 3.2% and the Mail on Sunday down 6.7% year on year.
The Sunday Express now has a total of 1.6 million readers, while the Mail on Sunday retains a healthy total of 5.2 million readers.
Popular Sunday Titles
The Daily Star Sunday continues to outperform its red-top rivals, posting an impressive 10.9% year on year uplift in readers, which gives it a total of 950,000 readers.
All other titles in the Popular sector recorded year on year declines.
The People shed 8.7% of its readership, taking it down to 1.3 million, while the Sunday Mirror lost 2.4%, leaving it with 3.8 million readers.
The News of the World, meanwhile, still boasts a total readership of more than 7.6 million readers, despite suffering a 2.1% year on year fall.
| Sunday Titles | Apr 08-Mar 09 | Apr 09-Mar 10 | Actual Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday | 676,000 | 600,000 | -76,000 | -11.2 |
| Observer | 1,370,000 | 1,212,000 | -158,000 | -11.5 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 1,675,000 | 1,677,000 | 2,000 | 0.1 |
| Sunday Times | 3,175,000 | 3,219,000 | 44,000 | 1.4 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday | 5,589,000 | 5,213,000 | -376,000 | -6.7 |
| Sunday Express | 1,676,000 | 1,622,000 | -54,000 | -3.2 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 857,000 | 950,000 | 93,000 | 10.9 |
| News Of The World | 7,808,000 | 7,642,000 | -166,000 | -2.1 |
| People | 1,458,000 | 1,331,000 | -127,000 | -8.7 |
| Sunday Mirror | 3,919,000 | 3,826,000 | -93,000 | -2.4 |