Irish Newspaper June ABC Circulation 2012

I may have been a touch hasty writing the epitaph of the Daily Star when it lost its status as “King of the Tabloids” last month. It didn’t do too much, bar stand still, and let The Sun drop 1,200 copies to let The Daily Star regain its title. The Mirror also fell back by near enough 1,000 copies so the Daily Star was the only tabloid to gain in June.

It’s most likely the last ABC audit (in the Republic) for the Independent (London) and they have decided to withdraw from the Irish market.  Nothing of note in the morning market other than it’s back over 5,000 on the month, 30,000 on the year.

The Sun On Sunday had a much needed jump gaining over 3,600 on the month and it looks as if it was at the expense of the Sunday People which dropped 2,200 to a new low of 16,800. One can only speculate how long they are prepared to keep producing the title in Ireland. At those circulation levels and paltry advertising revenues, is it time to take the same ferry as the Indi?

The only other move was the Sunday Times where they dropped just over 4,000 in the month to 99,000 (below the physiological 100,000 barrier yada, yada, yada).  The Sun on Sunday gained a similar amount but I can’t see the two papers being in direct competition with each other, so it will be interesting to see if they get that back next month.

Finally, to show the volatility in the market: The morning papers normally exclude a bank holiday circulation for the simple reason they are disastrous. For example, this month’s ABC for the Sun was 71,381 but that’s excluded the Bank Holiday edition which came in at 59,038. Similarly, the Daily Star excluded the same day as their circulation fell to 59,355 and the Mirror 49,133. All a far cry from the monthly figure.