ABC National Newspaper Round-Up – December 2003

News International’s decision to follow in The Independent‘s footsteps with the launch of a tabloid edition of The Times appears to be proving successful. The latest ABC circulation figures for December show that the move helped boost circulation at the paper by 2.3% month on month to 636,331.

The compact version of The Times hit the news-stands at the end of November and was initially intended for commuters in the London metropolitan area. However, News International recently unveiled plans to extend its availability in a move that will take its total print run to over 250,000 (see Times Announces Launch Of Tabloid Edition In London).

Other broadsheets have been considering tabloid launches for some time and the success of The Times looks set to encourage the Daily Telegraph to follow suit with its own scaled-down edition, which is understood to be ready to go to press.

The Independent‘s editor, Simon Kelner, recently claimed that the launch of a rival tabloid-sized broadsheet had not effected sales at his paper. However, the latest ABC results paint a different picture by revealing that The Independent saw circulation dip by 1% during December to 237,816 (see Independent Claims Tabloid Times Has Not Effected Sales).

Elsewhere in the broadsheet sector, the Guardian saw circulation slip by 2.9% month on month to 375,073 and the Observer was down by 8.6% to 443,706. The Business and the Financial Times were the only quality title to experience any upward movement with respective 5.5% and 3% month on month increases.

The tabloid sector enjoyed little festive cheer during December with News International’s Sun dipping by 3.3%. The Daily Mirror, declined by a less significant 0.3% during the same period and even Richard Desmond’s Daily Star failed to shine with a 3.4% drop in circulation.

The Daily Mail suffered a 2.9% decline in the mid-market, which was overshadowed by a slightly sharper 4.6% fall for the Daily Express, which is poised to receive a £5 million boost to its marketing and promotions budget in a move that will see editorial spend at the title cut (see Desmond To Boost Express Promotions Spend By £5 Million).

Quality Market

The picture was fairly bleak for the quality market with the majority of title seeing circulation decline year on year in the six months to December 2003. However, The Business experienced a massive 134% rise as it continued to benefit from a heavy reliance on bulk-sales and give-aways.

The Independent recorded a 2.1% year in year increase to 227,741 as the popularity of its tabloid edition continued to revive its fortunes. However, The Times proved less fortunate with circulation dipping by 7.9% during the same period despite its own compact version.

The Sunday Telegraph suffered a sharp 8.2% decline to 711,267 in the six months to December, in what was the quality sector’s worst performance in both actual and percentage terms.

Mid Market

Richard Desmond’s mid-market titles put in a less than impressive performance in the six months to December. The Daily Express saw circulation dip by 2.8% year on year to 967,145 and its Sunday sibling declined by 2.9% to 951,393 during the same period. The Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday saw circulation increase in year on year analysis.

Popular Market

Richard Desmond’s Daily Star was the only tabloid to see circulation increase in the six months to December. The sport and celebrity focussed title bucked the sector-wide downturn and recorded a 5.6% year on year rise to 893,315.

All the other popular titles saw circulation decline during the same period. The Sun dipped by 4.5% and the Daily Mirror was down by 7.8%. Sport First continued its downward trend and suffered the sector’s most significant decline, with circulation plummeting by 34.1% year on year to 27,598.

Metro Title

The six months to December 2003 proved a positive period for the Associated Newspaper-owned Metro titles, which saw their overall distribution increase by 7.4% year on year to 892,666. The London edition of the free-sheet saw the most upward movement with a 14.2% rise in distribution to 450,266.

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