'Sunday Newspaper Titles Fall Sharply', Sky News

Friday, April 11, 2008

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'Sunday Newspaper Titles Fall Sharply', By James Silver, media reporter.

Sales of Sunday red-top and mid-market newspapers dipped sharply last month, latest circulation figures reveal.

Worst hit in the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) league table was the Sunday Express.

The Northern & Shell newspaper lost more than 12% of its sales year-on-year, giving it a circulation of 685,067 - although it was up slightly month-on-month.

Sister-title Daily Star Sunday slumped 3.69% over the same period to 361,951.

Trinity Mirror's Sunday titles fared little better.

The People declined nearly 10% year-on-year to 658,726, while the Sunday Mirror lost 3% of its circulation, recording an average sales figure of 1,338,822.

Market-leader The News of the World also lost sales, dropping 2.7% - but it still sold an average of 3,218,867 last month.

Of the broadsheets, The Observer was the pick of the crop.

Boosted by DVD movie giveaways, the Guardian Media Group title rose by 1.32% to 461,739.

With a circulation of 1,206,517, The Sunday Times lost 2.46% year on year, while The Sunday Telegraph shed 2.63% of sales posting a figure of 625,549.

The Independent on Sunday slid 2.86% to 221,698, of which nearly 40,000 were 'bulk sales' or giveaways.

Meanwhile, in the daily market, while The Sun rose 2.12% year-on-year to 3,096,086, the Daily Mirror recorded its lowest ever sales figure.

The title posted a circulation of 1,483,749 in March 2008 - a 3.8% drop year-on-year.

However, the Daily Star was the biggest faller, sliding 6.45% year-on-year, with a circulation of 722,207.

With a latest figure of 731,763, sister-title the Daily Express shed 3.56% of its sale, while the Daily Mail, which tends to have a rock-solid circulation, lost 1.48% when compared with March last year.

The Daily Mail now has a headline sales figure of 2,308,325.

Of the broadsheets, the Financial Times was down by 1.32% year-on-year, although it was up slightly on February's sale.

The Times lost 2.71% year-on-year, with a circulation of 622,186, of which more than 48,000 were 'bulks'.

The Daily Telegraph's sales last month averaged 874,124, down 2.46%. Nearly 100,000 of its circulation were giveaways.

The Independent was also heavily reliant upon bulks, which amounted to nearly one fifth of its 246,584 circulation.

The paper was also down by 2.43% year on year, underlining the scale of task ahead for incoming editor Roger Alton.

Despite continuing to win plaudits for its website, The Guardian's print sales dipped 2.21% year-on-year, with a circulation of 358,142.

:: Read more articles by James Silver.

Posted by James Silver - On Friday, April 11, 2008

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