National Press Market Round-Up – 1999
A drop in both circulation and readership occurred across the national press market during 1999. Total circulation fell by 1.9% throughout last year, an actual fall of 511,651 sales. The popular papers in both the daily and Sunday sectors lost the greatest sales overall – falling 1.6% and 3.9% respectively.
| January – December 1999 ABC Market Comparisons | ||||
| Daily Market | Jan-Dec’98 | Jan-Dec’99 | Actual Change | % Change YoY |
| Quality | 2,812,233 | 2,792,792 | -19,441 | -0.7 |
| Mid | 3,466,606 | 3,438,559 | -28,047 | -0.8 |
| Popular | 6,590,257 | 6,486,495 | -103,762 | -1.6 |
| Sunday Market | ||||
| Quality | 2,897,919 | 2,887,287 | -10,632 | -0.4 |
| Mid | 3,318,303 | 3,281,000 | -37,303 | -1.1 |
| Popular | 8,103,415 | 7,790,949 | -312,466 | -3.9 |
| TOTAL | 27,188,733 | 26,677,082 | -511,651 | -1.9 |
The popular market also saw the greatest falls in terms of readership over the year. The red-top Sunday market readership slipped 5.7%, losing a total 1.2 million readers and the daily popular market also slipped 2.6% – or 459,000 readers – in a year on year analysis. The Sunday quality market lost 190,000 readers, 2.5% of its total reader base. The daily mid-market titles were the only sector to make significant gains, piling on 510,000 readers, a proportional gain of 6.6%.
| January-December 1999 NRS Market Comparisons | ||||
| Daily Market | Jan-Dec’98 | Jan-Dec’99 | Actual Change | % Change YoY |
| Quality | 6,553,000 | 6,620,000 | 67,000 | 1.0 |
| Mid | 7,722,000 | 8,232,000 | 510,000 | 6.6 |
| Popular | 17,944,000 | 17,485,000 | -459,000 | -2.6 |
| Sunday Market | ||||
| Quality | 7,476,000 | 7,286,000 | -190,000 | -2.5 |
| Mid | 8,703,000 | 8,647,000 | -56,000 | -0.6 |
| Popular | 21,807,000 | 20,570,000 | -1,237,000 | -5.7 |
| TOTAL | 70,205,000 | 68,840,000 | -1,365,000 | -1.9 |
Trends set in 1998 look set to continue then with the tabloid papers the hardest hit in terms of circulation. 1999, however, also saw an erosion of its readership base and a general decline in the sector as a whole has been noted (see Feature: Tabloids Shed Readers As Tastes Shift).
Quality Market Within the quality newspaper sector Sunday Business and the Financial Times saw the greatest increases in circulation in a year on year analysis, recording sales rises of 18.2% – or 9,000 copies, – and 12% – or 3,000 copies respectively. Hardest hit was the Times which saw a 5.2% dip in sales, a drop of almost 40,000 copies. In terms of readership the greatest fall came from the Independent which shed 57,000 readers over the year.
| National Quality Market January-December 1999 ABC Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 98 – Dec 98 | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,063,894 | 1,040,320 | -23,574 | -2.2 |
| Financial Times | 360,579 | 403,538 | 42,959 | 11.9 |
| Guardian | 397,254 | 395,287 | -1,967 | -0.5 |
| Independent | 220,979 | 224,052 | 3,073 | 1.4 |
| Independent On Sunday | 255,599 | 248,443 | -7,156 | -2.8 |
| Observer | 405,668 | 403,560 | -2,108 | -0.5 |
| Sunday Business | 49,544 | 58,554 | 9,010 | 18.2 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 835,047 | 819,734 | -15,313 | -1.8 |
| Sunday Times | 1,352,061 | 1,354,997 | 2,936 | 0.2 |
| Times | 769,527 | 729,595 | -39,932 | -5.2 |
| National Quality Market January-December 1999 NRS Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 98 – Dec 98 | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Telegraph | 2,348,000 | 2,468,000 | 120,000 | 5.1 |
| Financial Times | 583,000 | 614,000 | 31,000 | 5.3 |
| Guardian | 1,135,000 | 1,105,000 | -30,000 | -2.6 |
| Independent | 644,000 | 587,000 | -57,000 | -8.9 |
| Independent On Sunday | 790,000 | 737,000 | -53,000 | -6.7 |
| Observer | 1,112,000 | 1,076,000 | -36,000 | -3.2 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 2,108,000 | 2,171,000 | 63,000 | 3.0 |
| Sunday Times | 3,466,000 | 3,302,000 | -164,000 | -4.7 |
| Times | 1,843,000 | 1,846,000 | 3,000 | 0.2 |
The Financial Times saw a significant increase in its readership base, which climbed 5.3%, but it continues to share a place at the bottom of the readership table with the Independent. Both hold the smallest share of the total readership among the national dailies, at 2% each.
Mid-Market The Express titles both suffered substantial losses in readership and circulation over the year. The Sunday Express saw the greatest drop, shedding 66,000 copies and 342,000 readers during the period. The Daily Mail however continued its upward trend, increasing its readership by 12% and its circulation base by 1.8%.
| National Mid Market January-December 1999 ABC Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 98 – Dec 98 | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Mail | 2,323,713 | 2,365,264 | 41,551 | 1.8 |
| Express | 1,142,893 | 1,073,295 | -69,598 | -6.1 |
| Sunday Express | 1,055,251 | 989,020 | -66,231 | -6.3 |
| Mail On Sunday | 2,263,052 | 2,291,980 | 28,928 | 1.3 |
Popular Market The circulation figures of all popular titles fell during 1999. Hardest hit were the Daily Star which saw a 8% drop in its circulation base, a total of 45,000 copies, and the Sunday People, which fell 7.4%, a total 127,000 sales. The Sun was the only title to see an increase in its readership base: the daily red-top rose 1.1% over the year. The greatest falls again came from the Daily Star and the Sunday People – down 13.9% and 11.7% respectively.
| National Mid Market January-December 1999 NRS Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 98 – Dec 98 | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Mail | 5,198,000 | 5,820,000 | 622,000 | 12.0 |
| Express | 2,524,000 | 2,412,000 | -112,000 | -4.4 |
| Sunday Express | 2,733,000 | 2,391,000 | -342,000 | -12.5 |
| Mail On Sunday | 5,970,000 | 6,256,000 | 286,000 | 4.8 |
| National Popular Market January-December 1999 ABC Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 98 – Dec 98 | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Star | 566,695 | 521,112 | -45,583 | -8.0 |
| Mirror | 2,329,563 | 2,313,857 | -15,706 | -0.7 |
| News Of The World | 4,278,793 | 4,128,948 | -149,845 | -3.5 |
| Sun | 3,693,999 | 3,651,526 | -42,473 | -1.1 |
| Sunday Mirror | 2,028,885 | 1,979,959 | -48,926 | -2.4 |
| Sunday People | 1,731,281 | 1,603,288.0 | -127,993 | -7.4 |
| National Popular Market January-December 1999 NRS Comparisons | ||||
| Title | Jan 98 – Dec 98 | Jan 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| Daily Star | 1,847,000 | 1,591,000 | -256,000 | -13.9 |
| Mirror | 6,400,000 | 6,095,000 | -305,000 | -4.8 |
| News Of The World | 11,109,000 | 10,592,000 | -517,000 | -4.7 |
| Sun | 9,697,000 | 9,799,000 | 102,000 | 1.1 |
| Sunday Mirror | 6,354,000 | 6,141,000 | -213,000 | -3.4 |
| Sunday People | 4,344,000 | 3,837,000 | -507,000 | -11.7 |
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