NRS National Newspaper Round-Up – January 2004
The newspaper industry suffered a wide-ranging decline in readership according to the latest round of NRS figures for January, with both tabloid and broadsheet papers struggling against the downward trend and only a handful of titles experiencing any growth.
The Times became the worst casualty, seeing readership plummet despite the launch of its tabloid incarnation. The newspaper’s readership dropped by 17.9% year on year in the six months to January, losing 353,000 readers in real terms.
The Independent also suffered a readership stumble, falling by 9% during the same period despite the tabloid edition’s attempts to revive flagging figures. The paper recently dropped its broadsheet edition completely in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and South-West England, in a move that many believe brings it a step closer to becoming fully tabloid (see Independent Ditches Broadsheet Edition In Some Areas).
The Independent on Sunday managed the biggest overall increase in readership in percentage terms, pushing up by 3.3% ahead of a design revamp due later this month. The paper’s new look will focus further on the arts and highbrow entertainment, but publishers have ruled out a switch to tabloid format.
The Observer made a 1% rise in readership in the six months to January, adding 13,000 readers and putting further distance between itself and stablemate, the Guardian which dropped by 9.2% during the same period.
Both newspapers have made moves to cash in on the increasing popularity of the internet with the launch of digital editions for online readers. The launch of the e-papers, which replicate the layout of their print editions in terms of copy, advertising and images, proved successful with more than 4,000 test users and will now be made available to consumers in the UK and across the globe (see Guardian And Observer Launch Digital Editions).
The Guardian has also begun introducing subscription-only access to parts of its website, but has yet to charge for content, a move which has been seen by some as the first steps to a pay-per-view online presence.
Trinity Mirror’s Daily Mirror took one of the biggest hits among the tabloids, seeing readership crumble by 10.4%. Last month Trinity upped the paper’s coverprice by 3p to 35p and revealed that its national newspapers are beginning to see an improvement in advertising revenue (see Daily Mirror Coverprice To Rise As Group Profits Increase).
The Daily Mirror‘s arch-rival, The Sun, fared slightly better, suffering a 7.6% fall and dropping 728,000 readers in real terms, while News International stablemate News of the World made one of the smallest drops of all the tabloids, dipping by 2.7%.
Richard Desmond’s Daily Express got off reasonably lightly, with a 5.4% dip in readership. The media tycoon recently sold off his soft adult titles for an estimated £20 million to improve his chances of buying the Daily Telegraph, which itself saw readership fall by 7.1% in the six months to January (see Desmond Pawns Adult Magazines For Telegraph Bid).
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – January 2004 | ||||
| Title | Aug 02-Jan 03 | Aug 03-Jan 04 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 2,283,000 | 2,160,000 | -123,000 | -5.4 |
| Daily Mail | 6,004,000 | 5,724,000 | -280,000 | -4.7 |
| Daily Mirror | 5,291,000 | 4,741,000 | -550,000 | -10.4 |
| Daily Record | 1,503,000 | 1,431,000 | -72,000 | -4.8 |
| Daily Star | 1,870,000 | 1,710,000 | -160,000 | -8.6 |
| Daily Star Sunday | n/a | 1,132,000 | n/a | n/a |
| Daily Telegraph | 2,346,000 | 2,180,000 | -166,000 | -7.1 |
| Financial Times | 524,000 | 464,000 | -60,000 | -11.5 |
| Guardian | 1,264,000 | 1,148,000 | -116,000 | -9.2 |
| Independent | 602,000 | 548,000 | -54,000 | -9.0 |
| Independent On Sunday | 658,000 | 680,000 | 22,000 | 3.3 |
| Mail On Sunday | 6,184,000 | 6,139,000 | -45,000 | -0.7 |
| News Of The World | 9,703,000 | 9,437,000 | -266,000 | -2.7 |
| Observer | 1,264,000 | 1,277,000 | 13,000 | 1.0 |
| People | 2,740,000 | 2,450,000 | -290,000 | -10.6 |
| Sun | 9,560,000 | 8,832,000 | -728,000 | -7.6 |
| Sunday Express | 2,229,000 | 2,295,000 | 66,000 | 3.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 5,228,000 | 5,225,000 | -3,000 | -0.1 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,052,000 | 1,992,000 | -60,000 | -2.9 |
| Sunday Times | 3,539,000 | 3,433,000 | -106,000 | -3.0 |
| Times | 1,973,000 | 1,620,000 | -353,000 | -17.9 |
| Total | 66,817,000 | 64,618,000 | -2,199,000 | -3.3 |
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