Summer takes its toll on the Sunday newspaper market

by Daniel Farey-Jones and Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 09-Jun-06, 12:30

LONDON - The Sunday newspaper market has dipped, with the Independent on Sunday falling by 12.01% to 227,337 and The Observer also slipping, down 8.47% to 460,939, as the difficult summer period begins.

The Independent on Sunday and The Observer have suffered by far the worst circulation falls for May, during which the Mail on Sunday was down 3.67% to 2,341,605, the Sunday Telegraph slid 2.62% to 664,672 and The Sunday Times fell 2.31% to 1,302,823.

There were marginal falls for the Sunday Mirror, down 0.57% to 1,449,654, and The People, which dropped 0.55% to 838,417, and the News of The World, down 1% to 3,515,850.

The Sunday Express is the only title to improve its circulation, with the title rising 2.52% to 809,253.

Many of the Sunday titles will now be banking on a World Cup sales boost to counter the effects of what could prove to be a long, lethargic summer for the Sunday nationals.

The daily market put in a steadier performance, with the mid-market and quality categories enjoying small circulation increases.

Richard Desmond enjoyed a good month, with his Daily Express up 1.53% to 845,234, while mid-market rival Daily Mail was up 0.81% to 2,390,324.

Desmond's Daily Star was the only red-top to register a higher circulation than April, rising 2.03% to 785,850.

The tabloid category was slightly down overall with the Daily Mirror falling 1.27% to 1,634,006, the lowest figure in its recent history. The Sun lost a smaller 0.19% ending up at 3,149,029.

The quality category was up slightly, led by The Guardian, up 1.76% to 381,188, followed by The Independent, up 1.7% to 257,226, and The Times, up 1.33% to 663,543.

The Telegraph added just 158 copies from April to register a circulation of 900,236. However, it added an extra 2,000 bulk copies to keep above that 900,000 level.

The Financial Times was down 2.4% to 451,153, wiping out a lot of its previous month's gains.

In London, the Evening Standard received a 8.29% boost from its redesign, climbing to 341,983.

The Sportsman registered 22,333 in its second month, up 2.36% from April, but still far short of its 40,000 target circulation. Its Trinity Mirror-owned rival The Racing Post fell 6.84% to 75,671.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.