By Des Cryan
Almost all Irish daily and Sunday newspapers showed a decline in
sales in the second half of 2004 compared with the same period in
2003,according to the latest ABC figures.
However, in the daily market the Irish Independent gained from the compact edition introduced in February last year.
Direct
comparisons cannot be made as it only circulated on five days up to
November, while the broadsheet sold on six days as usual.
For the
second six months of 2004 the Irish Independent sold 99,700 copies
daily and the compact issue sold 72,200, to make a combined total of
almost I72,000.
This compared with a figure of I6I,300 for the broadsheet only for the same period in 2003.
The
compact now accounts for 35 per cent of all copies of the Irish
Independent sold. Almost I2,000 copies of the newspaper are distributed
as bulk sales.
The launch of the compact is shown to have
affected the Evening Herald, theonly evening newspaper in Dublin. The
figures show its sale declined by eight per cent. Its weekday sales of
88,300 compared with 96,300 for the same period in 2003.
Sales of
Ireland on Sunday fell from I60,500 to I44,000, a drop of 10 per cent.
The Sunday Independent retained the highest circulation in the
Republic,with sales of 292,000 for the second half of 2004.
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