NEWSPAPER ABCs: Daily Express outperforms market in May

The Northern & Shell-owned title registered a circulation of 597,885 in May, up 5.15% on the previous month, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABCs).

The Daily Express is priced at 50p, 5p cheaper than its mid-market rival the Daily Mail, a fact it advertisers on its masthead.

The Daily Mail reported a circulation of 1,931,135, down 3.2% on April, but its circulation is still more than  three times that of the Daily Express.

In May, both titles ran extensive editorial coverage ahead of the Queen’s Jubilee, which took place on June 5.

The red-tops endured a tough May, all of them falling in circulation despite plenty of editorial coverage around the European football championships.

The Daily Mirror fell 0.35% to 1,080,544. The Sun was down 0.46% to 2,611,838 while the Daily Star fell 0.73% to 606,641.

On the 30 May, the Daily Mirror parted company with its editor Richard Wallace.

Across the quality titles, the 20p-priced i, The Guardian, and The Times were all up, the biggest riser being the i, which was up 1.06% to 274,539.

City AM, the free financial newpsaper, recorded its highest distribution to date after increasing its availability in the affluent commuter belt to the south and south west of London to reach potential readers on their journey into work. The 132,076 copies distributed in May was up 31.2% on April.

Jens Torpe, City AM chief executive, said: "We have hardly seen any drop in our normal pick-up in the City and West End during May. This also indicates that we have added a significant number of new readers to our audience during the past month."

Follow John Reynolds on Twitter @johnreynolds10

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk