NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: January 2006

Daily Newspaper Market

Readership decline continued to blight the national daily newspaper market in January, with the sector as a whole suffering a 2.5% downturn year on year.

The decline affects every sector, and is in evidence across the board in the mid market, where both the Daily Express and Daily Mail have seen readers move elsewhere.

There are some glimmers of hope, however, with the Independent, Times and Guardian all proving the value of compact publications, returning healthy readership growth in the quality sector.

The Daily Record also saw a rise in January, lifting the popular market’s fortunes, along with the Sun, which saw a nominal rise in the same period.

Quality Daily Titles

There were mixed results for the nation’s quality titles in January, with the Independent, Guardian and Times all reporting readership rises, while the FT reported a crashing of its figures, which dipped by 23.7%. The paper, which is expected to return to profit this year (see Pearson Optimistic As FT Faces Break Even), now commands a readership of 342,000, down by 106,000 in real terms year on year. Elsewhere, market-leading quality title the Daily Telegraph also saw a dip in readership of 2.7% year on year, leaving the paper with a total of just over 2 million, although this remains firmly ahead of its nearest rival, the Times. The Times added 9.5% year on year meanwhile, pushing its readership total to just over 1.8 million, while the Guardian added 3.9% to reach just under 1.2 million. The Independent recorded the largest increase, pushing its readership to 718,000 with an impressive rise of 19.1% year on year.

Mid Market Daily Titles

The mid market was the only daily sector to see decline across the board in January, as both the Daily Express and Daily Mail lost readers year on year.

The Daily Express saw the largest rise, shedding 12.5% of its readership, equating to a loss of 271,000 in real terms to leave the paper’s total just short of 1.9 million.

The Daily Mail lost 1.4% of its readership in the same period, with 81,000 readers deserting the title to leave its total at 5.6 million.

Popular Daily Titles

The Daily Record notched up a respectable 4.1% increase in readers during January, adding 49,000 in real terms year on year to total 1.2 million.

The title was joined in its success by the Sun, which added 0.1% year on year to avoid the readership decline which continues to depress others in the market.

The Sun now commands a readership total of 8.4 million, further entrenching itself as the nation’s best-read daily newspaper.

Conversely, the Daily Mirror suffered a dip of 5.8% in its readership year on year, falling to just above 4 million. The dip sees 250,000 readers move away from the title, while the Daily Star suffered an 18% downturn, losing 344,000 readers to sit just short of 1.6 million.

Sunday Newspaper Market

The Sunday newspaper market looked similar to its weekday counterpart in January, with a similarly depressed total showing an overall decline in readership of 2.6% year on year.

There were some high points, however. Most notably, the Independent on Sunday, which added an impressive 27.3% to its total year on year, climbing to 797,000.

The paper, which made the switch to compact format late last year, added 171,000 readers in real terms, with its performance flying in the face of decline in every sector.

The Sunday Times also performed well, adding 86,000 readers in real terms after a 2.5% upturn year on year.

Meanwhile, The People proved that growth could be secured outside the quality sector, adding a respectable 4.3% to become the only popular title to add readers year on year. The paper now commands a readership of just over 2 million.

Quality Sunday Titles

The Independent on Sunday’s strong performance lead both the quality sector and the Sunday market as a whole, adding 27.3% to eclipse the performance of all rival titles.

The paper now commands a readership of 797,000, adding an impressive 171,000 in real terms.

The Sunday Times’ addition of 86,000 in January proved that there is still mileage in the broadsheet format, however, increasing its readership by 2.5% year on year to 3.5 million.

Meanwhile, the Observer suffered a dip of 2.3% year on year, with readership slipping to just under 1.3 million. January saw the title adopt the mid-sized Berliner format, following in the footsteps of its weekday counterpart, the Guardian (see Observer Makes Transition To Berliner Format).

The Sunday Telegraph also saw a decline in readers, losing 5.2% year on year to see its total slip to just under 1.9 million,

Mid Market Sunday Titles

A decline in readers for both the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express left the mid market bereft of any readership growth in the six months to January.

The Mail on Sunday shed 3.6% year on year to total just under 6.2 million, while the Express lost 5.1% to slip to just over 2.2 million.

The downturns see the newspapers losing 228,000 and 119,000 readers respectively in real terms.

Popular Sunday Titles

The Sunday popular sector saw just one title exhibiting readership growth in the six months to January, as the People added 4.3% in the face of rival’s declines, seeing its total rest just above the 2 million mark, thanks to an extra 84,000 readers.

The Daily Star Sunday was less fortunate, however, recording the largest readership downturn of any Sunday newspaper at 20.4%. The title now commands an audience of 959,000, down by 246,000 in real terms.

Fierce rivals the News of the World and the Sunday Mirror also felt the pinch in the six months to January, losing 3.2% and 3.7% respectively. The newspapers now command totals of 8.7 million and 4.4 million.

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