NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: February 2006
Daily Newspaper Market
The daily newspaper market continued to look down in the mouth in the six months to February, with a total downturn of 4.1% in readership indicating a continued struggle for the sector.
Not all papers suffered decline, however, with compact qualities the Independent and The Times scoring respectable increases of 24.5% and 19% respectively.
The Sun also saw its readership rise slightly, adding 0.2% year on year to cement its position as the nation’s best read national newspaper.
There were heavy casualties, however, with the Financial Times continuing to haemorrhage readers between September and February. The paper lost 24.9% year on year, pushing its total down to 347,000.
Elsewhere, the Daily Star also recorded substantial losses, shedding 19.5% of its readership in the same period to lose a massive 374,000 readers in real terms.
Quality Daily Titles
Compact titles were the only newspapers to increase readership during December, with the Independent notching up an impressive increase of 24.5% year on year. The paper now commands a total of 731,000 readers, up by 144,000 in real terms.
The Times also performed well, adding 19% in the same period. The increase gives the paper a total readership of 1.9 million, closing the gap on the market leading Daily Telegraph.
The Telegraph saw a dip of 1.4% year on year, with its readership slipping to just under 2.07 million. Elsewhere, the Guardian suffered a dip of 1%, with 11,000 readers deserting its Berliner format in real terms. The title now claims a readership of 1.1 million.
The largest decline in the quality sector was recorded by the Financial Times, which shed a massive 24.9% of its readership year on year in the six months to February. The decline sees the paper with a total of 347,000, down by 115,000 in real terms on the same period 12 months ago.
Mid Market Daily Titles
The mid market saw a poor performance in the six months to February, with both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail shedding readers year on year.
The Daily Express was worst hit, losing 17.4% from its total, while the Daily Mail lost 5.1% in the same period. The titles now command readerships of 1.8 million and 5.5 million respectively.
Popular Daily Titles
The Daily Star led the decline amongst the nation’s popular titles during December, losing a significant 19.5% from its total to hit 1.5 million. The Star’s poor performance was not isolated, however, with declines for all titles in the sector with the exception of the Sun.
The Sun recorded a modest increase of 0.2% in readership year on year, pushing its total to 8.2 million. The increase sees the title buck the trend by all others in the popular sector, as well as strengthening its position as the nation’s best read national newspaper.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – February 2006 | ||||
| Daily Titles | Sep 04-Feb 05 | Sep 05-Feb 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,096,000 | 2,067,000 | -29,000 | -1.4 |
| Financial Times | 462,000 | 347,000 | -115,000 | -24.9 |
| Guardian | 1,143,000 | 1,132,000 | -11,000 | -1.0 |
| Independent | 587,000 | 731,000 | 144,000 | 24.5 |
| Times | 1,572,000 | 1,871,000 | 299,000 | 19.0 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 2,181,000 | 1,801,000 | -380,000 | -17.4 |
| Daily Mail | 5,793,000 | 5,498,000 | -295,000 | -5.1 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 4,419,000 | 4,016,000 | -403,000 | -9.1 |
| Daily Record | 1,256,000 | 1,172,000 | -84,000 | -6.7 |
| Daily Star | 1,919,000 | 1,545,000 | -374,000 | -19.5 |
| Sun | 8,211,000 | 8,229,000 | 18,000 | 0.2 |
| Total Daily | 29,639,000 | 28,409,000 | -1,230,000 | -4.1 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday newspaper market looked marginally more healthy than its weekday counterpart in the six months to February, but continued to exhibit a decline in readership overall.
Worst hit was the Daily Star Sunday, mirroring the performance of its weekday sister title with a downturn of 22.6% year on year.
The Mail on Sunday also performed poorly, shedding 6.8% of its readership year on year to total just over 6.1 million.
There were success stories however, with the newly compact Independent on Sunday reporting a 22.8% rise in readership year on year between September and February, pushing its total to 791,000.
The Observer also performed well, adding 8% to its total in the same period, building on its successful launch in Berliner format at the beginning of the year (see Observer Makes Transition To Berliner Format).
Quality Sunday Titles
The Independent on Sunday put in a strong performance in the six months to February, recording a 22.8% increase in readership year on year. The title now commands a total of 791,000, adding 147,000 in real terms to edge closer to the 1 million mark.
The Observer also added to its total, rising by 8% in the same period to command a readership of just under 1.4 million. January 2006 saw the title make the transition to Berliner format, aping the appearance of its weekday sister title, the Guardian (see Observer Makes Transition To Berliner Format).
The Sunday Telegraph was the only quality title to see a decline in the six months to February, shedding 4.7% year on year to see its readers number just over 1.9 million.
Mid Market Sunday Titles
The Sunday mid market echoed the poor performance of its weekday counterpart, with both the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express suffering a downturn year on year.
The Mail on Sunday shed 6.8% of its readership year on year, seeing its total slip to just over 6.1 million. Meanwhile, the Sunday Express lost 8.5% in the same period to 2.1 million.
Popular Sunday Titles
The popular sector continued the trend of decline, with only the People seeing any growth in readership year on year.
The paper added 5.4% year on year to push its total above the 2 million mark in the face of widespread decline by all other titles in the sector.
The Daily Star Sunday was worst hit, shedding 22.6% year on year to see its total slip below the 1 million mark. The paper now commands an audience of 934,000, down 273,000 in real terms.
The Sunday Mirror suffered a similar decline, losing 8.2% to shed 392,000 in real terms. The News Of The World saw the smallest decline and remains the best read Sunday title, although its 1.8% downturn translates to 155,000 in real terms, leaving a total of 8.6 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – February 2006 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | Sep 04-Feb 05 | Sep 05-Feb 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday. | 644,000 | 791,000 | 147,000 | 22.8 |
| Observer | 1,255,000 | 1,356,000 | 101,000 | 8.0 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,030,000 | 1,934,000 | -96,000 | -4.7 |
| Sunday Times | 3,412,000 | 3,526,000 | 114,000 | 3.3 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday. | 6,561,000 | 6,113,000 | -448,000 | -6.8 |
| Sunday Express | 2,342,000 | 2,142,000 | -200,000 | -8.5 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday. | 1,207,000 | 934,000 | -273,000 | -22.6 |
| News Of The World | 8,798,000 | 8,643,000 | -155,000 | -1.8 |
| People | 1,906,000 | 2,009,000 | 103,000 | 5.4 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,769,000 | 4,377,000 | -392,000 | -8.2 |
| Total Sunday | 32,924,000 | 31,825,000 | -1,099,000 | -3.3 |
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