According to the latest figures from ABC, the majority of newsbrands saw their circulations rise period-on-period in September, with the Daily Mail reaching a circulation of just over one million for the first time since March.
Here are the key points to take away from the data:
1. The Guardian and the Daily Mail fared the best year-on-year (YoY)
Although all newsbrands saw a dip in circulations YoY, the Guardian and the Daily Mail recorded the smallest year-on-year declines at -13.2% and -13.7%, respectively.
2. For a consecutive month, Sunday titles collectively fared better than the dailies
Overall, the Sunday market was down by -13.1% YoY, compared to -29.8% for the dailies. Among those titles, The Mail on Sunday and Observer saw the smallest percentage drops, with both down by -10%.
3. The return of commuters sees the Metro‘s figures rise
The Metro (UK footprint – Mon-Fri) saw its circulation rise period-on-period (PoP) by 146,053 copies, or 29%, across the country. With an increase of 84,331 copies, or 27.1%, for The Metro London, the data suggests that more people are venturing back to work. It’s a similar story for the London Evening Standard – which did record a PoP drop, but only of -0.4%.
It should be noted that circulation figures for the Sun, Sun on Sunday, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Times and Sunday Times have not been publicly reported by ABC, following the implementation of new reporting options which allow publishers to opt out of making their figures publicly available.
A complete breakdown of the circulation figures for each newsbrand can be found by Mediatel Connected subscribers in the tables below.
| Daily Titles | Sep-19 | Aug-20 | Sep-20 | YoY Actual Ch | YoY % Ch | PoP Actual Ch | PoP % Ch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QUALITY | |||||||
| Financial Times | 169,127 | 94,395 | 104,194 | -64,933 | -38.4 | 9,799 | 10.4 |
| Guardian | 130,496 | 109,533 | 113,261 | -17,235 | -13.2 | 3,728 | 3.4 |
| i | 225,496 | 151,760 | 154,288 | -71,208 | -31.6 | 2,528 | 1.7 |
| MID MARKET | |||||||
| Daily Express | 303,243 | 251,736 | 255,621 | -47,622 | -15.7 | 3,885 | 1.5 |
| Daily Mail | 1,166,500 | 994,081 | 1,007,181 | -159,319 | -13.7 | 13,100 | 1.3 |
| POPULAR | |||||||
| Daily Mirror | 474,055 | 388,718 | 394,250 | -79,805 | -16.8 | 5,532 | 1.4 |
| Daily Record | 109,908 | 91,556 | 91,374 | -18,534 | -16.9 | -182 | -0.2 |
| Daily Star | 296,473 | 237,266 | 241,439 | -55,034 | -18.6 | 4,173 | 1.8 |
| OTHER | |||||||
| Metro (UK footprint – Mon-Fri) | 1,415,071 | 504,226 | 650,279 | -764,792 | -54.0 | 146,053 | 29.0 |
| Total Daily | 4,290,369 | 2,823,271 | 3,011,887 | -1,278,482 | -29.8 | 188,616 | 6.7 |
Source: ABC
September 2020 circulation figures are not available for Daily Telegraph; Sun and Times
| Sunday Titles | Sep 19 | Aug 20 | Sep 20 | YoY Actual Ch | YoY % Ch | PoP Actual Ch | PoP % Ch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QUALITY | |||||||
| Observer | 159,780 | 139,851 | 144,034 | -15,746 | -9.9 | 4,183 | 3.0 |
| MID MARKET | |||||||
| Mail On Sunday | 969,894 | 872,375 | 871,121 | -98,773 | -10.2 | -1,254 | -0.1 |
| Sunday Express | 262,070 | 221,385 | 223,759 | -38,311 | -14.6 | 2,374 | 1.1 |
| Sunday Post | 94,559 | 73,547 | 74,305 | -20,254 | -21.4 | 758 | 1.0 |
| POPULAR | |||||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 176,949 | 141,011 | 143,937 | -33,012 | -18.7 | 2,926 | 2.1 |
| Sunday Mirror | 386,004 | 316,962 | 321,267 | -64,737 | -16.8 | 4,305 | 1.4 |
| Sunday People | 145,547 | 125,216 | 128,081 | -17,466 | -12.0 | 2,865 | 2.3 |
| Total Sundays | 2,194,803 | 1,890,347 | 1,906,504 | -288,299 | -13.1 | 16,157 | 0.9 |
Source: ABC
September 2020 circulation figures are not available for Sun on Sunday; Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times
| London Free Press | Sep 19 | Aug 20 | Sep 20 | YoY Actual Ch | YoY % Ch | PoP Actual Ch | PoP % Ch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Evening Standard | 820,180 | 514,040 | 512,016 | -308,164 | -37.6 | -2,024 | -0.4 |
| Metro (London) | 855,828 | 310,697 | 395,028 | -460,800 | -53.8 | 84,331 | 27.1 |
| Total London Press | 1,676,008 | 824,737 | 907,044 | -768,964 | -45.9 | 82,307 | 10.0 |
Source: ABC
September 2020 circulation figures are not available for City AM
