ABCs: 'IoS' bucks bleak Sunday trend
Monday, 16 July 2007
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Sunday morning. A pot of strong, black, aromatic coffee. Buttery croissants flaking over the crumpled bedsheets. Newspapers strewn around, with plenty of time to read them.
This ritual is one that fewer people are indulging in, if the newspaper figures for June from the Audit Bureau of Circulations are anything to go by.
The Sunday Times, that bastion of the weekend market, returned its lowest circulation figure since the Eighties. Its headline sales of 1.17 million were down 10.7 per cent in June 2006, and at UK news-stands it sold just 1.08 million copies. September's decision to bump up the cover price to £2 is only part of the picture. Rupert Murdoch's paper is suffering from the general decline in the market: overall, the "quality" Sunday papers had their lowest headline sales since prior to 1990 (except for a seasonal low in December 2006.)
The Observer's headline sales last month dropped 4.1 per cent year-on-year to 451,425, a loss of 20,000 copies. It sold just 382,053 over the counter in the UK.
Standing out from the crowd was the Independent on Sunday. It reaped the rewards of its relaunch, circulation rising in June by 17 per cent year-on-year (and 17.04 per cent month-on-month) to 245,952. The new-look paper was promoted by cutting the cover price to £1 for three weeks from 3 June.
The Sunday Telegraph, which last month revamped the masthead and typeface – but not the content – saw its headline circulation rise by 1.1 per cent to 652,497, although its UK newstrade sales were down 1.7 per cent year-on-year, to 566,075. And the Evening Standard continued to be hurt by the proliferation of freesheets in the capital, with headline sales falling 10.9 per cent year-on-year to 276,230. It was even harder hit at the news-stand, losing 70,000 since June 2006.
Dailies fared little better, overall sales at their lowest since August 1993. The Times' headline circulation fell 3.5 per cent year-on-year; The Guardian was down 4.4 per cent.
