Released today, the JNRS for the period July – June 2010 show that readership of morning titles is down 86,000 compared to the same period 12 months prior and, conversely, the Sunday market in up 57k.
The shift in the two markets could show a change of buying habits. Many may be abandoning the daily read in favour of reading a paper only on a Sunday.
The survey showed that 56% of the population read a daily papers while some 70% read a Sunday paper.
Individually there were differing results. In the Mornings, still retaining top slot is the Irish Independent with 560k readers (+5). This is followed by the Daily Star at 410k (-52) and then the Irish Times at 359k (-5). The NNI were quick to point out that the decrease in the morning readership can be attributed to the rise in unemployment – which is fairly plausible and could account for the 11% drip in readership of the Daily Star and the 8% drop for The Sun. Both papers would have had a strong loyalty in the ‘trades’ and many once employed tradesperson could well be seeking employment currently.
The Evening Market (such a misnomer at this point) is seeing yet another serious decline. The Evening Herald readership stands at 260k down 61k (or 20%) on the previous survey. One point is that the (seemingly) popular “In Dublin” magazine wrapped in the paper on a Thursday would not have been fully factored in this survey. Although one good day can’t really make up for 5 terrible ones.
The Sunday Market still have the Sunday Independent in top spot at 992k (-11). However their sales patter will not have that same flow. The ‘over a million readers’ line is gone. Its only down 11k but the psychology of dipping below one million is what matters. Their nearest rival is the Sunday World at 843k down 40k year on year. The stars of the Sunday market this time around are the Mail on Sunday up 37k and the Sunday Times up a very impressive 51k – the highest gainer in the survey. In percentage terms the Sunday Business Post gained nearly 20% year on year, which they have to happy about.
| Daily Titles: | ‘000 | % | ‘000 | % | +/- | % diff | ||
| Irish Independent | 560 | 15.90% | 555 | 15.70% | 5 | 1% | ||
| Irish Daily Star | 410 | 11.60% | 462 | 13.10% | -52 | -11% | ||
| Irish Times | 359 | 10.20% | 364 | 10.30% | -5 | -1% | ||
| Irish Sun | 285 | 8.10% | 311 | 8.80% | -26 | -8% | ||
| Irish Examiner | 204 | 5.80% | 210 | 6.00% | -6 | -3% | ||
| Irish Daily Mirror | 204 | 5.80% | 204 | 5.80% | 0 | 0% | ||
| Irish Daily Mail | 144 | 4.10% | 146 | 4.10% | -2 | -1% | ||
| Readership of Daily Titles | 2166 | 61.50% | 2252 | 63.80% | -86 | -4% | ||
| Evening Titles: | ‘000 | % | ‘000 | % | ||||
| Evening Herald | 260 | 7.40% | 321 | 9.10% | -61 | -19% | ||
| Readership of Evening Titles | 260 | 7.40% | 321 | 9.10% | -61 | -19% | ||
| Sunday Titles: | ‘000 | % | ‘000 | % | ||||
| Sunday Independent | 992 | 28.20% | 1003 | 28.40% | -11 | -1% | ||
| Sunday World | 843 | 23.90% | 883 | 25.00% | -40 | -5% | ||
| Irish News of the World | 533 | 15.10% | 529 | 15.00% | 4 | 1% | ||
| Sunday Times | 422 | 12.00% | 371 | 10.50% | 51 | 14% | ||
| Irish Mail on Sunday | 332 | 9.40% | 295 | 8.30% | 37 | 13% | ||
| Irish Daily Star Sunday | 213 | 6.10% | 232 | 6.60% | -19 | -8% | ||
| Sunday Business Post | 193 | 5.50% | 162 | 4.60% | 31 | 19% | ||
| Sunday Tribune | 167 | 4.70% | 172 | 4.90% | -5 | -3% | ||
| Irish Sunday Mirror | 146 | 4.20% | 137 | 3.90% | 9 | 7% | ||
| Readership of Sunday Titles | 3841 | 3784 | 57 | 2% | ||||
| Other Titles: | ‘000 | % | ‘000 | % | ||||
| Irish Farmers Journal | 259 | 7.30% | 240 | 6.80% | 19 | 8% | ||
| Readership of Other Titles: | 259 | 7.30% | 240 | 6.80% | 19 | 8% |