NRS National Newspaper Round-Up – June 2004
The Guardian lost more than a quarter of its overall readership in the twelve months to June as the new tabloid incarnation of the Independent went from strength to strength in the broadsheet sector.
The latest NRS national newspaper figures for the six months to June show that the Guardian saw its readership decline by 25.7% year on year to just over the one million mark as the title struggled in the face of increasing competition.
However, the Guardian is working hard to improve its fortunes and recently announced plans to become the country’s first national newspaper titles to adopt the Berliner size and shape used in France by Le Monde and recently embraced by former tabloid Les Echos Preserves (see Guardian Takes Titles Compact With £50 Million Investment).
Meanwhile, the Independent‘s commuter friendly compact edition continued to pay dividends, with readership rising by 14.8% year on year to just below the 700,000 mark. However, the title’s Sunday sibling, which retains the traditional broadsheet format, proved less fortunate with its readership shrinking by 10.6% during the same period to 676,000.
The Times also put in a rather lacklustre performance in the six months to June, with readership declining by 9.4% year on year to 1,655,000. However, research carried out by the paper shows that the recently launched compact edition is proving successful in attracting young, upmarket readers (see Compact Times Proves Successful In Attracting New Readers).
Elsewhere, the high-profile European football championships provided the tabloids with a much needed boost during June. News International’s coverage of England’s ill-fated Euro 2004 campaign helped the title to see readership rise by 5.3% year on year to 9,220,000. The rival Daily Mirror also performed well with a 1.7% increase during the same period to 5,000,000.
Richard Desmond’s Daily Star cashed in on the football frenzy with a 4.8% rise during June to 2,053,000 and its fledgling Sunday sister recorded a more impressive 13% year on year improvement to 1,171,000. Trinity Mirror’s People also managing to stem the rate of its decline.
The Daily Mail failed to perform in the mid-market with readership slipping by 3.5% to 5,727,000. However, the Mail on Sunday managed a 2.9% year on year rise to 6,219,000. Rival Daily Express boosted its readership by 4.1% to 2,175,000 in the six months to June, but the Sunday Express suffered a 1.6% dip during the same period to 2,166,000.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – June 2004 | ||||
| Title | Jan 03-Jun 03 | Jan 04-Jun 04 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 2,089,000 | 2,175,000 | 86,000 | 4.1 |
| Daily Mail | 5,933,000 | 5,727,000 | -206,000 | -3.5 |
| Daily Mirror | 4,918,000 | 5,000,000 | 82,000 | 1.7 |
| Daily Record | 1,431,000 | 1,424,000 | -7,000 | -0.5 |
| Daily Star | 1,959,000 | 2,053,000 | 94,000 | 4.8 |
| Daily Star Sunday | 1,036,000 | 1,171,000 | 135,000 | 13.0 |
| Daily Telegraph | 2,288,000 | 2,275,000 | -13,000 | -0.6 |
| Financial Times | 509,000 | 474,000 | -35,000 | -6.9 |
| Guardian | 1,379,000 | 1,025,000 | -354,000 | -25.7 |
| Independent | 608,000 | 698,000 | 90,000 | 14.8 |
| Independent On Sunday | 756,000 | 676,000 | -80,000 | -10.6 |
| Mail On Sunday | 6,045,000 | 6,219,000 | 174,000 | 2.9 |
| News Of The World | 9,510,000 | 9,925,000 | 415,000 | 4.4 |
| Observer | 1,178,000 | 1,034,000 | -144,000 | -12.2 |
| People | 2,467,000 | 2,442,000 | -25,000 | -1.0 |
| Sun | 8,755,000 | 9,220,000 | 465,000 | 5.3 |
| Sunday Express | 2,201,000 | 2,166,000 | -35,000 | -1.6 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,816,000 | 5,087,000 | 271,000 | 5.6 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,051,000 | 2,080,000 | 29,000 | 1.4 |
| Sunday Times | 3,277,000 | 3,256,000 | -21,000 | -0.6 |
| Times | 1,827,000 | 1,655,000 | -172,000 | -9.4 |
| Total | 65,033,000 | 65,782,000 | 749,000 | 1.2 |
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