NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: October 2005
Daily Newspaper Market
The majority of Britain’s daily national newspapers saw declines in readership during the six months to October, with only the compact quality titles managing to increase their audiences.
The Independent notched up the largest increase, adding 21.2% to its total year on year, which now stands at 708,000. Elsewhere, the Times added 11%, while the newly compact Guardian added an impressive 19.7%.
The mid market saw declines across the board, as did the popular sector, with the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror shedding the largest percentage respectively in each.
The daily newspaper market as a whole looked depressed in the latest NRS results, with readership declines of 5.7% year on year in the six months to October.
Quality Daily Titles
Compact quality titles were the only papers to see success in the sector in the six months to October, with the Independent, Times and newly compact Guardian all notching up year on year increases in readership.
The Independent put in the best performance, adding 21.2% to its total year on year, while the Times also performed well, adding 11% in the same period.
The Guardian’s newly-adopted Berliner format proved its worth, fuelling a 19.7% increase following its switch in mid-September/ The title’s readership now stands at 1.25 million.
Elsewhere, the Daily Telegraph saw a slight dip in readership, losing 2.5% year on year to total 2.11 million, while the Financial Times suffered a 36.6% decline, pushing the title’s total readership down to 322,000.
Mid Market Daily Titles
The nation’s mid market titles put in a dismal performance for the six months to October, with both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail suffering declines in readership.
The Daily Mail saw the largest downturn, losing 6.5% to total 5.39 million, while the Daily Express suffered a dip of 5.3% in the same period, totaling 1.94 million.
Popular Daily Titles
The daily popular market saw disappointing results for all four titles, with the heaviest declines in readership reported by the Daily Mirror and Daily Star. The newspapers lost 11.6% and 10.5% from their totals respectively year on year, leaving them with readerships of 4.1 million and 1.77 million.
Elsewhere both the Daily Record and the Sun saw declines in their audience, with decreases of 1.9% and 8.5% year on year, however the Sun remains the nation’s best read daily newspaper, with a readership of 8.82 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – October 2005 | ||||
| Daily Titles | May 04-Oct 04 | May 05-Oct 05 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,160,000 | 2,107,000 | -53,000 | -2.5 |
| Financial Times | 508,000 | 322,000 | -186,000 | -36.6 |
| Guardian | 1,047,000 | 1,253,000 | 206,000 | 19.7 |
| Independent | 584,000 | 708,000 | 124,000 | 21.2 |
| Times | 1,667,000 | 1,850,000 | 183,000 | 11.0 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 2,047,000 | 1,939,000 | -108,000 | -5.3 |
| Daily Mail | 5,762,000 | 5,390,000 | -372,000 | -6.5 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 4,640,000 | 4,100,000 | -540,000 | -11.6 |
| Daily Record | 1,272,000 | 1,248,000 | -24,000 | -1.9 |
| Daily Star | 1,977,000 | 1,770,000 | -207,000 | -10.5 |
| Sun | 8,818,000 | 8,069,000 | -749,000 | -8.5 |
| Total Daily | 30,482,000 | 28,756,000 | -1,726,000 | -5.7 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday newspaper market was also in a poor state during the six months to October, although its overall decline was not as large as its weekday counterpart, shedding 3.4% from combined readerships year on year.
The popular market was the worst hit, with declines across the board, led by the Daily Star Sunday. The mid market also saw a poor performance however, with both the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express suffering declines.
Only the quality sector saw any increase in the six months to October, with the Independent on Sunday, Observer and Sunday Times all recording a respectable growth in readers.
Quality Sunday Titles
The only sector to see readership growth during the six months to October, Britain’s quality titles saw a largely strong performance year on year.
Leading the way was the Independent on Sunday, notching up an increase of 17.7%, giving the newly tabloid title a total readership of 779,000 (see Independent On Sunday To Make Tabloid Switch).
The Observer also saw success, adding 11% to its total year on year, with the paper’s readers now numbering 1.29 million ahead of a planned switch to Berliner format next year (see Guardian To Downsize Early, Observer To Follow).
Elsewhere, the Sunday Times saw its readership increase in the same period, adding a healthy 6.7% year on year to total 3.37 million. However, the quality sector’s success was marred slightly by a 2.4% decline for the Sunday Telegraph, leaving the title with a readership of 1.95 million.
Mid Market Sunday Titles
The mid market failed to see any readership rises in the six months to October, with both the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express reporting dips year on year.
The Sunday Express saw the largest downturn, at 5.8% year on year, while the Mail on Sunday fared better, recording a dip of 0.3% in the same period.
Popular Sunday Titles
Wide-reaching readership declines left all four titles in the popular daily sector looking down in the mouth, with a 15.9% downturn from the Daily Star Sunday leading the way.
The News of the World also saw reader decline, losing 8.3% year on year in the six months to October. The title remains the nation’s best read Sunday newspaper, however, with a total readership in excess of 8.6 million.
The Sunday Mirror looked similarly glum in the latest NRS figures, losing 7.5% from its total, which now sits at 4.52 million, while the People lost 3% in the same period to total 2 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – October 2005 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | May 04-Oct 04 | May 05-Oct 05 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday. | 662,000 | 779,000 | 117,000 | 17.7 |
| Observer | 1,164,000 | 1,292,000 | 128,000 | 11.0 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 1,999,000 | 1,952,000 | -47,000 | -2.4 |
| Sunday Times | 3,157,000 | 3,369,000 | 212,000 | 6.7 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday. | 6,184,000 | 6,167,000 | -17,000 | -0.3 |
| Sunday Express | 2,178,000 | 2,052,000 | -126,000 | -5.8 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday. | 1,172,000 | 986,000 | -186,000 | -15.9 |
| News Of The World | 9,421,000 | 8,640,000 | -781,000 | -8.3 |
| People | 2,062,000 | 2,001,000 | -61,000 | -3.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,880,000 | 4,515,000 | -365,000 | -7.5 |
| Total Sunday | 32,879,000 | 31,753,000 | -1,126,000 | -3.4 |
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