View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Data
  2. Audience Data
September 6, 2013updated 23 Aug 2022 7:21pm

Paywall move fails to halt print circulation decline for The Sun

Putting online content behind a paywall appeared to have little impact on The Sun’s rate of print circulation decline last month.

The Sun began charging for online content on 1 August and the paper still lost sales at a rate of 9.8 per cent year on year dropping to 2,258,359. Sun sales were also down 1 per cent month on month compared with July, when The Sun was still giving its content away for free online.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror continued to out-perform its redtop rival with print sales up 0.56 per cent month on month and down 3.9 per cent year on year.

The only daily newspaper to increase sales year on year in August was The Independent’s cut-price sister title i, which was up 4.8 per cent year on year to 295,179 (with 64,625 free bulk copies).

The Independent and the Financial Times were the two worst performing titles in terms of print circulation. Excluding free bulk distribution, both the FT and The Independent now sell just over 50,000 copies a day in the UK.

Looking at the Sunday market, no titles managed to increase print sales year on year in August.

 

Content from our partners
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it
Impress: Regulation, arbitration and complaints resolution

The Sunday Mirror also out-performed The Sun Sunday, both year on year and month on month. 

National newspaper print circulations for August 2013 (source ABC) 

Name of title: Circulation, change month on month, change year on year

Daily Mirror: 1,045,971, up 0.56 per cent, down 3.93 per cent

Daily Record: 252,575, up 1.14 per cent, down 8.58 per cent

Daily Star: 547,955, up 0.58 per cent, down 8.72 per cent

The Sun: 2,258,359, down 1.01 per cent, down 9.76 per cent

Daily Express: 530,631, down 0.45 per cent, down 3.61 per cent

Daily Mail: 1,802,083, up 1.13 per cent, down 5.85 per cent

The Daily Telegraph: 557,536, down 0.23 per cent, down 4.55 per cent

Financial Times: 236,281, down 3.47 per cent, down 15.65 per cent

The Guardian: 189,646, down 0.8 per cent, down 7.16 per cent

i: 295,179, down 3.26 per cent, up 4.85 per cent

The Independent: 68,696, down 4.95 per cent, down 16.02 per cent

The Times: 391,981, down 1.89 per cent, down 5.47 per cent

Sundays

Daily Star Sunday: 346,205, up 1.31 per cent, down 21.25 per cent

The Sun (Sunday): 1,916,570, down 0.56, down 10.17 per cent

Sunday Mail: 290,623, up 3.37 per cent, down 7.76 per cent

Sunday Mirror: 1,063,293, up 1.72 per cent, down 3.44 per cent

Sunday People: 425, 293, up 1.47 per cent, down 7.13 per cent

Sunday Express: 473,286, down 0.54, down 6.45 per cent

Sunday Post: 244,637, up 1.08 per cent, down 11.24 per cent

The Mail on Sunday: 1,675,474, up 1.05 per cent, down 7.51 per cent

Independent on Sunday: 110,157, down 3.60 per cent, down 10.95 per cent

The Observer: 216,839, down 1.58 per cent, down 11.94 per cent

The Sunday Telegraph: 435,323, down 0.32 per cent, down 6.13 per cent

The Sunday Times: 826,462, down 2.17 per cent, down 9.65 per cent

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network