NRS National Newspaper Round-Up – November 2002
NRS figures for the June to November period revealed a relatively static picture of overall national newspaper readership, which increased by just 0.3% year on year, remaining just above the 66.5 million mark.
There was good news for the broadsheet market, with solid gains across the majority of titles. An exception was the Sunday Telegraph which experienced a 4.4% decline in its readership, falling to 2,021,000 from 2,114,000 in the same period in 2001. The Financial Times was also seen in decline as the corporate downturn continues to weigh heavily on the paper’s core city audience. Readership fell by 46,000 to 579,000, a substantial year on year decrease of 7.4%.
On a brighter note, the Guardian strengthened its position in the market, experiencing a 10.1% year on year increase to 1,313,000. Its sister Sunday title, The Observer also posted healthy figures, with readership up 13% to 1,258,000 while the Independent had a strong month, recording a 17.6% rise to 581,000. The Times and the Sunday Times also saw significant increases of 8.5% and 12.3% respectively. Nonetheless, the Daily Telegraph easily maintained its position as the broadsheet market leader with average daily readership of 2,284,000 between June and November.
Elsewhere, the tabloid battle continued to intensify. The Daily Mirror took a knocking, with readership down 9% year on year to 5,287,000 from 5,813,000 in the same period in 2001. The Sunday Mirror also saw readership slip by 2.5% to 5,299,000. There was better news over at The Sun, where the number of readers rose 4.1% to 9,809,000 and there were gains at the Daily Star which was up 4.8% to 1,719,000 during the period in question. However, the News Of The World fared less well with readership of the UK’s biggest selling newspaper slipping by 4.8% to 9,907,000.
Mid-market title, the Daily Express enjoyed a successful six months, with readership up by 11.5% to 2,239,000 while the Daily Mail managed a 3.3% gain to 5,848,000.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – November 2002 | ||||
| Title | Jun 01 – Nov 01 | Jun 02 – Nov 02 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Daily Express | 2,008,000 | 2,239,000 | 231,000 | 11.5 |
| Daily Mail | 5,662,000 | 5,848,000 | 186,000 | 3.3 |
| Daily Mirror | 5,813,000 | 5,287,000 | -526,000 | -9.0 |
| Daily Record | 1,578,000 | 1,468,000 | -110,000 | -7.0 |
| Daily Star | 1,641,000 | 1,719,000 | 78,000 | 4.8 |
| Daily Telegraph | 2,280,000 | 2,284,000 | 4,000 | 0.2 |
| Financial Times | 625,000 | 579,000 | -46,000 | -7.4 |
| Guardian | 1,193,000 | 1,313,000 | 120,000 | 10.1 |
| Independent | 494,000 | 581,000 | 87,000 | 17.6 |
| Independent On Sunday | 621,000 | 640,000 | 19,000 | 3.1 |
| Mail On Sunday | 5,939,000 | 5,945,000 | 6,000 | 0.1 |
| News Of The World | 10,408,000 | 9,907,000 | -501,000 | -4.8 |
| Observer | 1,113,000 | 1,258,000 | 145,000 | 13.0 |
| People | 3,077,000 | 2,850,000 | -227,000 | -7.4 |
| Sun | 9,424,000 | 9,809,000 | 385,000 | 4.1 |
| Sunday Express | 2,191,000 | 2,212,000 | 21,000 | 1.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 5,433,000 | 5,299,000 | -134,000 | -2.5 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,114,000 | 2,021,000 | -93,000 | -4.4 |
| Sunday Times | 3,131,000 | 3,517,000 | 386,000 | 12.3 |
| Times | 1,653,000 | 1,794,000 | 141,000 | 8.5 |
| Total | 66,398,000 | 66,570,000 | 172,000 | 0.3 |
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