Monday July 14, 03:42 PM
Papers Feel The Pinch
By Sky News
The Sun and the Financial Times were the only national newspapers to buck the downward trend last month, latest Audit Bureau of Circulation figures reveal. In the daily tabloid market, the Daily Star was the worst performer, seeing its headline
sale tumble by 7.87% year-on-year, with an average net circulation of 733,244 - although it was up 1% from May.
In disappointing results for Trinity Mirror, the group's flagship title, the Daily Mirror, lost nearly 6% of its circulation when compared with June 2007, while its Scottish stable-mate the Daily Record lost 3.46% - giving them average figures of 1,472,286 and 390,130 respectively.
By contrast, News International's The Sun, added 0.81% to its sale year-on-year, posting a circulation of 3,089,321 - thereby remaining above the crucial three million mark.
Overall, the 'popular' daily sector appears in relatively robust health. With a combined average daily circulation of 5,767,901, it shrank just over 1%year-on-year - a result which defies those who are gloomy about its short-terms prospects.
Meanwhile, both mid-market dailies saw sales slides of more than 3%.
The Daily Express, which now has a circulation of just 742,324, looks set to be eclipsed by its red-top sister title, the Daily Star, as it lost 3.64% year-on-year.
The latest ABC figures show the once-unassailable Daily Mail is now also feeling the circulation pinch. The flagship Associated title was down 3.14% year-on-year and 2.66% month-on-month, with an average sale of 2,231,120.
At the quality end of the market, only the Financial Times saw sales rise - albeit by just 0.22% - to 445,756.
But all the other broadsheets posted year-on-year sales losses.
Hardest-hit last month was The Guardian which lost 4.51% of its circulation year-on year, with a sale of 347,183, followed by News International's The Times, which slipped 3.54% year-on-year to 611,384.
With a circulation of 865,400, The Daily Telegraph has shed 2.96% of its sale since June last year, while The Independent fared a little better losing 1.81% with a current headline figure of 233,973.
Overall the quality sector shrank by nearly 3% over the past year and it was also heavily-reliant on 'bulk' giveaways or multiple-copy circulation.
99,037 of the Daily Telegraph's sales were bulks, while The Independent's figure was 41,779. The latter title also sold a surprising 54,994 overseas.
Both Scottish broadsheets, meanwhile, also struggled. The Scotsman lost a whopping 9.86% circulation year on year, with a headline figure of 51,366, while Glasgow's The Herald dipped 7.61% over the same period, with a circulation of 63,951.
Of the Sunday red-tops, the News of the World remains the stand-out performer, selling 3,170,181, down 3.04% year-on-year.
The rest of the sector was squeezed, with The People in particular continuing its inexorable slide, shedding 13.13% year on year, posting an average daily sale of 639,771.
Overall, the Sunday redtops were the hardest-hit of the national sectors, losing 5.14% of circulation - five times as many as their daily stable-mates, reflecting changing weekend lifestyles and an ageing readership pool.
In the mid-market, the Mail on Sunday, with an average daily sale of 2,204,058, lost 3.17% of its circulation, while the Sunday Express continued to slump heavily, losing 8.92% year-on-year, with 677,053 - although it was up slightly month-on-month.
Buoyed by a marketing campaign and rejig, The Sunday Times remains the pick of the Sunday quality market, with 1,148,287, although it still shed 2.19% of circulation since June 2007 and 3.25% since May 2008.
The Observer and the Sunday Telegraph were both down around 3% year-on-year, with 437,798 and 632,244 respectively, while the Independent on Sunday lost 14.8% year-on-year, posting a circulation of 209,561, a year on from its relaunch.
The latter looks in particular trouble, as not only was it dependent on bulk sales of 39,738, but it also claims overseas sales of 42,671.
North of the border, Scotland on Sunday and The Sunday Herald plunged by a worrying 8.10% and 15.78% respectively.
Overall, the national Sunday 'quality' sector has shrunk by 4.16% since June 2007, while the Sunday market as a whole is down by nearly 5%.
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