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NRS suggests big national press print readership falls

By Press Gazette

The latest national newspaper readership estimates from the National Readership Survey suggest The Independent, the Financial Times and The Times have lost the most print readers over the last 12 months.

The NRS surveys some 36,000 people over the course of a year to produce its figures which provide an estimate of readership (unlike ABC which audits actual copies circulated).

Looking at the figures for the 12 months to March 2011, the NRS data claims that The Guardian is the only national newspaper to grow readership, up 3 per cent to 1,154,000, despite print circulation dropping 8 per cent compared with the previous 12 months to 252,684.

The Evening Standard is not surprisingly the big readership winner as it has continued to increase its free distribution over the last year. It’s total readership for the year to March was said to be up 16 per cent to 1,523,000 with circulation up 8 per cent to 652,804 compared with the previous period (according to ABC).

According to the NRS, The Sunday Telegraph and the Independent on Sunday were the biggest Sunday newspaper readership fallers, down 14 and 15 per cent respectively.

The UK’s most popular newspaper, The Sun, had some 7.7m readers a day according to the NRS data.

National newspaper readership in the UK (average per issue) for the year to March 2011 (Source NRS)

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Name of newspaper: NRS readership in thousands; percentage year on year change; ABC circulation figure for same period

Dailies

  • The Independent : 562 ; -12% ; ABC: 158,484
  • Financial Times : 367 ; -12% ; ABC: 110,010
  • The Daily Telegraph : 1,693 ; -8% ; ABC: 685,315
  • Daily Record : 884 ; -7% ; ABC: 306,369
  • Daily Mirror : 3,163 ; -6% ; ABC: 1,096,128
  • Daily Mirror/Record : 4,026 ; -6% ; ABC: 1,402,497
  • Daily Mail : 4,775 ; -2% ; ABC: 1,938,317
  • The Times : 1,504 ; -15% ; ABC: 444,826
  • Daily Star : 1,552 ; -4% ; ABC: 685,315
  • The Sun : 7,722 ; +0% ; ABC: 2,779,939
  • Daily Express : 1,488 ; -3% ; ABC: 612,777
  • The Guardian : 1,154 ; +3% ; ABC: 252,684
  • Metro : 3,328 ; -6% ; ABC: 1,354,365
  • London Ev Standard : 1,563 ; +16% ; ABC: 652,804

Sundays

  • The Independent on Sunday : 518 ; -14% ; ABC: 126,645
  • The Sunday Telegraph : 1,422 ; -15% ; ABC: 473,832
  • The Mail on Sunday : 4,844 ; -7% ; ABC: 1,729,189
  • The Sunday Times : 2,872 ; -11% ; ABC: 908,234
  • The People : 1,205 ; -9% ; ABC: 470,240
  • Sunday Express : 1,470 ; -9% ; ABC: 518,102
  • Sunday Mirror : 3,642 ; -5% ; ABC: 1,035,706
  • Sunday Mail : 1,063 ; -5% ; ABC: 366,499
  • The Observer : 1,081 ; -11% ; ABC: 289,104
  • Daily Star Sunday : 911 ; -4% ; ABC: 285,647
  • News of the World : 7,455 ; -2% ; ABC: 2,616,981

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