ABC Circulation February 2015

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My elation from yesterday, at what could have been perceived as a softening of the falls, was short lived when it was pointed out that the February ABC figures I had used were in fact the six month average to February and not the February only ABC. As you will see below the picture is indeed bleak (I should have known: it was “good news” in the same sentence as “Newspapers” – seriously).

In fact The Sun and The Mirror took a bath last month especially the former dropping 2,200 on the month. Overall the tabloids are down 4,300 on the month (3%) and 8% on the year. The Daily Mail also had a bad month dropping 2,300.  

Adding to the wows in Trinity Mirror, the Sunday edition was down a staggering 3,300 on the month or 10% and are only 205 copies from falling into the 20’s. This month represents their biggest month on month percentage fall since the (re)introduction of the Sun on Sunday in March 2012, so it’s cause for a raised eyebrow.

The Sunday Times just can’t catch a break with 4,300 disappearing from their figures this month. The vision of hindsight is a dangerous thing, but has the price increase to €3 really begun to kick in. On the other hand the Mail on Sunday picked up 2,000 this month which may be just a coincidence. The money side of yesterdays yarn still stands up. So this month will contribute to the overall newspaper market being down €4m annually.

Title Feb-15 Feb-14 Jan-15 Y o Y M o M Y % +/- M % +/-
Daily Mirror  44,348 51,093 46,235 -6,745 -1,887 -13% -4%
Daily Record 303 415 293 -112 10 -27% 3%
Irish Daily Star 57,277 61,121 57,515 -3,844 -238 -6% 0%
The Sun 56,345 60,199 58,611 -3,854 -2,266 -6% -4%
Tabloids 158,273 172,828 162,654 -14,555 -4,381 -8% -3%
Daily Express 2,507 2,738 2,675 -231 -168 -8% -6%
Irish Daily Mail 46,824 50,009 49,163 -3,185 -2,339 -6% -5%
               
The Daily Telegraph 2,522 2,636 2,683 -114 -161 -4% -6%
Financial Times 2,404 2,511 2,419 -107 -15 -4% -1%
The Guardian 2,521 2,773 2,765 -252 -244 -9% -9%
i              
The Independent              
The Times 2,242 2,092 2,280 150 -38 7% -2%
Morning Market 217,293 235,587 224,639 -18,294 -7,346 -8% -3%
               
Daily Star – Sunday 16,574 20,210 17,384 -3,636 -810 -18% -4%
The Sun/NotW 52,553 55,675 53,256 -3,122 -703 -6% -1%
Sunday Mail 795 875 787 -80 8 -9% 1%
Sunday Mirror 30,204 35,353 33,570 -5,149 -3,366 -15% -10%
The People 11,800 14,403 11,440 -2,603 360 -18% 2%
               
Sunday Express 3,164 3,617 3,103 -453 61 -13% 2%
Sunday Post 492 549 482 -57 10 -10% 2%
The Mail on Sunday 92,190 100,086 90,000 -7,896 2,190 -8% 2%
               
Independent on Sunday              
The Observer 4,909 5,478 4,929 -569 -20 -10% 0%
The Sunday Telegraph 2,176 2,570 2,170 -394 6 -15% 0%
The Sunday Times 83,753 94,372 88,072 -10,619 -4,319 -11% -5%
Sunday  Market 298,610 333,188 305,193 -34,578 -6,583 -10% -2%
               
Total Market 515,903 568,775 529,832 -52,872 -13,929 -9% -2%

Sobering fact: I estimate that the National Newspaper Market is currently worth around €310m, at the till, and there are a lot of mouths to feed from that. A one percent drop in circulation of all titles would equate to a €2m collective loss of revenue annually.