NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: February 2007
Daily Newspaper Market
Britain’s national Daily newspapers suffered a 1.5% year on year downturn in their overall readership for the six months to February, with a relatively mixed picture across the sectors.
The Quality Dailies didn’t fare too badly, with only the Times shedding readers. The title lost 10% of its readership year on year for the period, leaving its total at almost 1.7 million.
All other titles in the sector saw their readership rise, with the Guardian bolstering its total figure by more than 150,000 readers year on year.
Both Mid-Market Daily titles, the Daily Express and the Daily Mail, lost readers, whilst all Popular Daily brands, with the exception of the Daily Star, also recorded a loss in readership for the period.
Quality Daily Titles
The Times was the only title in the sector to shed readers, with its total dropping 10% year on year for the six months to February.
The paper now commands a readership of a little shy of 1.7 million, having dropped 188,000 readers.
The Guardian recorded the largest percentage boost to its readership, rising by more than 150,000 to leave its total not far off the 1.3 million mark.
The Daily Telegraph experienced the greatest actual rise in readership in the sector, up by 177,000, to leave its total at just over 2.2 million. Meanwhile, the Independent also bolstered its total, up 2.6% to leave a final figure of 750,000.
Mid Market Daily Titles
Both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail suffered a downturn in readership for the six months to February this year.
The Daily Mail saw the most significant loss in real terms, losing 235,000 or 4.3%. The title now boasts a readership of more than 5.2 million, leaving it by far the market leader.
Its competitor, the Daily Express, shed 32,000 readers year on year. Its total now sits at more than 1.7 million.
Popular Daily Titles
The Daily Star was the only title in the Popular Daily sector to boost its readership. The Star saw an increase of 10%, or 155,000 in real terms, to leave its total at 1.7 million.
Market leader the Sun felt a 4% dip year on year for the period, leaving its total readership at 7.9 million, whilst the Daily Mirror lost around 120,000 readers.
The title’s readership now sits at almost 3.9 million, whilst the Daily Record (which saw a 1.7% drop) now records a readership of more than 1.1 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – Sep 06-Feb 07 | ||||
| Daily Titles | Sep 05-Feb 06 | Sep 06-Feb 07 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,067,000 | 2,244,000 | 177,000 | 8.6 |
| Guardian | 1,132,000 | 1,284,000 | 152,000 | 13.4 |
| Independent | 731,000 | 750,000 | 19,000 | 2.6 |
| Times | 1,871,000 | 1,683,000 | -188,000 | -10.0 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 1,801,000 | 1,769,000 | -32,000 | -1.8 |
| Daily Mail | 5,498,000 | 5,263,000 | -235,000 | -4.3 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 4,016,000 | 3,895,000 | -121,000 | -3.0 |
| Daily Record | 1,172,000 | 1,152,000 | -20,000 | -1.7 |
| Daily Star | 1,545,000 | 1,700,000 | 155,000 | 10.0 |
| Sun | 8,229,000 | 7,900,000 | -329,000 | -4.0 |
| Total Daily | 28,062,000 | 27,640,000 | -422,000 | -1.5 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
For the six months to February 2007, the Sunday newspaper market recorded a readership decline of 1.1% year on year, a fall in real terms of almost 355,000.
However, the Quality titles generally performed well, with the Observer seeing a year on year rise of almost 11.5%.
Across the Mid-Market and Popular sectors, the Daily Star Sunday was the only title to experience a year on year rise, of just over 8%.
Quality Sunday Titles
The Sunday Telegraph was the only Quality title to record a year on year decline for the six months to February, shedding almost 30,000 readers.
The Independent On Sunday showed the smallest year on year increase of the Quality titles, of 8,000 readers, taking its total readership figure to just under 800,000.
The Sunday Times was up by almost 2.5% year on year, and it remained the Quality title with the highest readership figure, of over 3.6 million.
The biggest increase in the entire Sunday market, both percentage wise and in real terms, was enjoyed by the Observer, which added almost 155,000 readers year on year. Its total readership now stands at around 1.5 million.
Mid Market Sunday Titles
The Mail On Sunday‘s readership declined by almost 75,000 readers year on year, although its total figure remained high at more than six million.
The Sunday Express also suffered a loss, of more than 35,000 readers year on year, a percentage decline of over 1.5%. Its total readership now sits at around 2.1 million.
Popular Sunday Titles
The Daily Star Sunday was the only title in the Popular Sunday sector to record a year on year increase in readership for the six months to February, adding more than 75,000 readers to its total. Its readership now rests at just over one million.
The People felt the biggest year on year decline in both real terms and percentage wise of any Popular Sunday title, falling by almost 225,000 readers or just over 11%. It now records a total of just short of 1.8 million readers.
The Sunday Mirror and the News Of The World, meanwhile, were down by similar amounts in real terms, shedding 155,000 and 158,000 year on year respectively.
The News Of The World remained the most read of the Sunday titles, with a total of almost 8.5 million, whilst the Sunday Mirror‘s total readership was more than 4.2 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – Sep 06-Feb 07 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | Sep 05-Feb 06 | Sep 06-Feb 07 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday | 791,000 | 799,000 | 8,000 | 1.0 |
| Observer | 1,356,000 | 1,509,000 | 153,000 | 11.3 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 1,934,000 | 1,905,000 | -29,000 | -1.5 |
| Sunday Times | 3,526,000 | 3,612,000 | 86,000 | 2.4 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday | 6,113,000 | 6,039,000 | -74,000 | -1.2 |
| Sunday Express | 2,142,000 | 2,105,000 | -37,000 | -1.7 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 934,000 | 1,010,000 | 76,000 | 8.1 |
| News Of The World | 8,643,000 | 8,485,000 | -158,000 | -1.8 |
| People | 2,009,000 | 1,785,000 | -224,000 | -11.1 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,377,000 | 4,222,000 | -155,000 | -3.5 |
| Total Sunday | 31,825,000 | 31,471,000 | -354,000 | -1.1 |
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