NRS PADD: October 12 – September 13

The National Readership Survey (NRS) has today released its latest figures combining both print and online for newsbrands between October 2012 to September 2013.

Unlike the general decline in readership recorded last period, the latest results paint a healthier picture for newsbrands, with the majority seeing increases.

The Daily Mail continues to lead the ranks, with the newsbrand’s combined readership surpassing the 18.6 million mark – almost 3 million more than second-spot rival the Sun.

However, the Sun’s print readership continues to lead the newspaper market with almost 14 million readers each month – 2.5 million more than the Daily Mail, which has faced heavy criticism recently for some of its journalistic practices.

The Guardian recorded the largest decline when combining traditional and online platforms – down -16.3% to an overall figure of 10,372 million readers per month. Despite this, the newsbrand still managed to rank fifth overall.

Alhough the Daily Telegraph reported a -2.2% decline last time, this period proved to be much more positive for the newsbrand, with its combined print and digital audience up a healthy 11.6%. Despite introducing a metered paywall earlier this year, the newsbrand’s online platform continues to make up the bulk of its readership, with more than double its print readership.

For the first time, the readership figures for the Independent and sister paper ‘i’ have been combined by the NRS, seeing the newsbrand’s print readership close in on its online figures – 4.2 million and 4.7 million, respectively.

Since introducing a paywall this summer, the Sun – though strong in print – was down -7.2% when its online figures are combined. This equates to a loss of over 1.2 million readers across both platforms – the greatest readership loss next to the Guardian.

The Daily Mirror and The Times also recorded overall losses, though only slight – down -1.6% and -1.1% respectively. However, for both newsbrands, the majority of their audience lie in print.

Please note: The Independent and i are now released in combination so it is not possible to compare figures with the last period. The Independent has therefore been removed from tables two and three