Indy leads Sunday market downwards with 11% fall

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 06-Jun-08, 12:30

LONDON - The Independent on Sunday's circulation dived 10.86%, or almost 25,000 copies, in a largely negative set of May ABCs for the Sunday newspapers.

The paper had consistently sold around 225,000 copies for the previous four months after a previous blip in December 2007, when it dropped to 198,222.

It nearly dropped that low again in May, with a circulation of 200,920 copies. Its six-month average circulation is down 4.27% year on year to 216,863.

IoS rival The Observer continued its recent steady period with a 0.39% rise to 453,757. It is the only Sunday title to have a positive year-on-year change in its six-month average circulation, up 0.46% to 451,241.

The other quality titles fell between April and May, with The Sunday Telegraph down 0.17% to 635,616 and The Sunday Times down 1.28% to 1,186,821.

The Telegraph's six-month average is down 3.95% to 628,611 and The Sunday Times' six-month average is down 3.66% to 1,195,422.

Both mid-market papers had particularly bad months, with The Mail on Sunday dropping 2.41% to 2,237,509 and the Sunday Express down 2.36% to 657,950.

The Mail's six-month average is down by 1.42% to 2,244,243 while the Express has fared much worse, down by 12.16% to 679,090.

The tabloids also struggled, and their collective circulation is now skirting the 6m mark.

The People fell 1.87% to 646,577 and its six-month average is down 10.91% to 660,602, while the News of the World was down 1.68% to 3,138,815 and its six-month average is down 3.81% to 3,208,231.

The Sunday Mirror bucked the trend with a 0.21% rise to 1,341,179 but its six-month average is down 3.05% to 1,340,424.