NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: October 2006
Daily Newspaper Market
Readership figures for national daily newspapers in Britain have fallen year on year for the six-month period to October, slipping by more than 5%.
All titles in the Mid-Market and Popular sectors were down, with just the Daily Telegraph and the Independent in the Quality sector boosting their readerships.
The Sun remained the most read paper in the UK with a readership of around 7.6 million, despite losing almost 6% of its readers or more than 450,000 in real terms.
Quality Daily Titles
The Times suffered the greatest actual decline in its readership year on year for the period in the Quality sector, shedding almost 230,000 or 12.3% from its total. The paper’s readership now rests at around 1.6 million.
The Guardian felt a 4% downturn, equating to 50,000 readers to leave its total at 1.2 million, whilst the Daily Telegraph and the Independent both added readers year on year for the period.
The Daily Telegraph saw the most significant rise in readers in the sector, up almost 140,000 to leave its total at around 2.2 million, whilst the Independent‘s total rose by just under 30,000 to give it a total readership of around 730,000.
Mid Market Daily Titles
Both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail felt declines in their readership year on year for the period, with the Express feeling the most significant fall.
The Express lost more than 220,000 readers (11.6%) year on year for the period, leaving its total at around 1.7 million, whilst the Mail dropped 66,000, or just over 1%. Its total now stands at just over 5.3 million readers.
Popular Daily Titles
All titles in the Popular sector saw a downturn in their readerships, with the Sun suffering the most significant actual decline.
The Sun dropped almost 6% of its total, or more than 450,000 in real terms. The title remains the most read in the sector, despite shedding readers, with a total of around 7.6 million.
The Daily Star suffered the largest percentage loss at almost 13%, or 226,000 in actual terms, to leave its total at just over 1.5 million. The Daily Mirror shed around 380,000 readers (9.3%) whilst the Daily Record dropped 45,000 (3.6%). The titles now command readerships of around 3.7 million and 1.2 million respectively.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – October 2006 | ||||
| Daily Titles | May 05-Oct 05 | May 06-Oct 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,107,000 | 2,244,000 | 137,000 | 6.5 |
| Guardian | 1,253,000 | 1,203,000 | -50,000 | -4.0 |
| Independent | 708,000 | 736,000 | 28,000 | 4.0 |
| Times | 1,850,000 | 1,622,000 | -228,000 | -12.3 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 1,939,000 | 1,715,000 | -224,000 | -11.6 |
| Daily Mail | 5,390,000 | 5,324,000 | -66,000 | -1.2 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 4,100,000 | 3,719,000 | -381,000 | -9.3 |
| Daily Record | 1,248,000 | 1,203,000 | -45,000 | -3.6 |
| Daily Star | 1,770,000 | 1,544,000 | -226,000 | -12.8 |
| Sun | 8,069,000 | 7,613,000 | -456,000 | -5.7 |
| Total Daily | 28,434,000 | 26,923,000 | -1,511,000 | -5.3 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday newspaper market also felt a year on year decline in readership, seeing an overall downturn of 2.3%.
However, the Quality Sunday titles all recorded increases in readership for the period, with the Observer seeing the largest percentage rise of the Sunday titles. Meanwhile, in the Popular sector the Daily Star Sunday was the only title to record an increase in readers.
Quality Sunday Titles
All of the Sunday Quality titles saw their readerships bolstered year on year for the six months to October, with the Observer recording the largest increase in percentage terms, of 10.4%. Its readership now stands at around 1.4 million.
The Sunday Times recorded the biggest year on year increase in real terms in the sector, of 165,000 year on year, taking its total figure to over 3.5 million.
The Independent On Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph both saw a rise in their readership of just over 30,000. The papers now command readerships of 811,000 and almost two million respectively.
Mid Market Sunday Titles
In the Mid-Market, the Sunday Express enjoyed a marginal increase in readers, of around 0.5% year on year for the period, giving it a total readership figure of more than two million.
The Mail On Sunday, meanwhile, lost around 80,000 readers year on year, although it remained the market leader with a total of over six million readers.
Popular Sunday Titles
The only title to record an increase in readers in the Popular sector was the Daily Star Sunday, which added 35,000 year on year to leave it with a total of around one million.
The People suffered the largest year on year decline in readers in percentage terms, of 11.0%, leaving it with a total of around 1.7 million, whilst the News Of The World saw the largest downturn in real terms, of just under 430,000 year on year, although it remained the most read title in the sector with a total of around 8.2 million.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Mirror lost over 415,000 readers year on year for the period, leaving it with a total of just under 4.1 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – October 2006 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | May 05-Oct 05 | May 06-Oct 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday | 779,000 | 811,000 | 32,000 | 4.1 |
| Observer | 1,292,000 | 1,426,000 | 134,000 | 10.4 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 1,952,000 | 1,985,000 | 33,000 | 1.7 |
| Sunday Times | 3,369,000 | 3,534,000 | 165,000 | 4.9 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday | 6,167,000 | 6,085,000 | -82,000 | -1.3 |
| Sunday Express | 2,052,000 | 2,064,000 | 12,000 | 0.6 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 986,000 | 1,021,000 | 35,000 | 3.5 |
| News Of The World | 8,640,000 | 8,211,000 | -429,000 | -5.0 |
| People | 2,001,000 | 1,780,000 | -221,000 | -11.0 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,515,000 | 4,098,000 | -417,000 | -9.2 |
| Total Sunday | 31,753,000 | 31,015,000 | -738,000 | -2.3 |
NRS: 020 7242 8111 www.nrs.co.uk