Berliner Observer records sales rise of almost 100,000

by Sheelagh Doyle, Media Week 14-Feb-06

The launch of the Berliner Observer sent sales rocketing by almost 100,000 copies in January compared with the same month last year.

The increase, which was helped by some substantial promotion and the
launch of Observer Woman, meant that the newspaper recorded a yearly
gain of 21.32%. It now stands little more than 140,000 behind its

closest rival, The Sunday Telegraph, which recorded a figure of

682,739.

The Telegraph's new circulation director, Steven McLaughlin, said he was
unperturbed by The Observer's performance, pointing out that The Sunday
Telegraph, although down 1.35% year on year, was up 3.1% on its October
pre-relaunch figure.

McLaughlin, who has previously worked as circulation director for
Scotland's Daily Record and Sunday Mail, added: "The Observer put a lot
of resolve behind its relaunch, but it is going to be difficult to
sustain."

Claudine Collins, press director at MediaCom, agreed and believes the
market will level off within the next three to four months. She said:
"We never just look at the one month figure because it is just too
specific. We look instead at the six-month figure which, for August to
January, shows The Observer up by 1.36%."

The Independent on Sunday also enjoyed a hefty yearly increase of
16.89%, bringing its headline circulation figure up to 241,414. Head of
circulation Paul Little put the increase down to a combination of a
strong promotional month and its switch to compact format in the
autumn.

Little added: "We believe a lot of dual buying goes on in January, but
we think the market as a whole may be pulling readers in from the mid-
market section."

Sales were less buoyant in the Sunday popular market, which overall saw
a drop of 3.79% on January last year. Trinity Mirror's The People was
worst hit, dropping more than 10% to 895,275.

The News of the World managed to halt its decline at 0.89%, thanks to
some significant scoops that included Sven-Goran Eriksson's
bean-spilling and the expose on Lib-Dem MP Mark Oaten's extra-marital
liaisons.

Among the dailies, the popular and the mid-market titles once again
suffered some gloomy results, falling overall by 2.25% and 3.58%
respectively, compared with last year.

There was some respite for the quality dailies, which overall recorded a
0.99% yearly increase - largely thanks to increases from The Guardian
and the Financial Times.