Mirror sites register 4.4m users in first ABCe figure

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 24-Apr-08, 13:00

LONDON - The Mirror Group has debuted in the ABC Electronic figures with 4.4m unique users during March, much lower than its rivals but with a higher percentage of UK-based users.

Mirror Group's network of websites include Mirror.co.uk, SundayMirror.co.uk, and People.co.uk. The group attracted the highest percentage of UK users among the national newspaper websites; over 56% of its audience, or 2.5m unique users, were from the UK.

The online leader, Guardian.co.uk, formerly Guardian Unlimited, dropped 4.18% from February to March, drawing in 18.7m unique users. However, this figure is still up by 35.92% from a year ago. Around 7.7m of the Guardian's audience came from the UK, 41% of its total unique users.

Guardian.co.uk's fall helped Mail Online, the combination of Dailymail.co.uk and MailonSunday.co.uk, close the gap on its rival. Mail Online rose 5.5% month on month to 17.97m unique users during March, which is less than 1m users behind the Guardian. However, only 28%, or 5.11m, of the Mail's unique users were from the UK.

Telegraph.co.uk has overtaken Times Online for third position after its audience jumped 38.7% during March to 17.04m unique users. More impressively, Telegraph.co.uk's users have increased 136.6% from a year ago, when they totalled 7.2m. Around 35% of its users were from the UK during March this year.

Times Online, meanwhile, rose 11.1% month on month to 16.08m unique users. Similar to Telegraph.co.uk, around 35% of its users stem from the UK.

The Sun's network of sites, which includes TheSun.co.uk, Page3.com and NewsoftheWorld.co.uk, remain in fifth position. Unique users rose 10.1% during the month to 13.97m, up 71.8% year on year. Just over 38% of its users were from the UK.

FT.com has published a one-off figure of 7.1m; it does not take part in the monthly release schedule the other newspapers have signed up for. It did not reveal a geographical breakdown of its audience.

The figure puts financial news site, which provides a mix of free and subscription-only content, in sixth place among the national newspaper websites that publish web traffic figures.