National newspaper ABCs (Sept 2005): Guardian profits from Berliner relaunch
14 October 2005 12:05
Circulation up over 18 percent month on monthThe Guardian's decision to switch to the Berliner format appears to have paid off. Its circulation rose by a massive 18.29 percent month on month in September, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
That put it back over the 400,000 mark for the first time since December 2003. However, the gloating coming out of Farringdon Road could be premature. Firstly, the year on year rise was a less spectacular 7.41 percent. The Times achieved a year on year circulation hike of 9.65 per cent in its first month as a compact. (In mitigation, The Guardian changed format on 12 September, so it has yet to experience a full month of sales in the new size).
The Guardian also did a fair bit of sampling last month. Only 336,691 of its UK and Republic of Ireland sales were at full rate; 8,001 were at a lesser rate and 15,778 were given away (not including those distributed at railway stations).
That bulk figure is actually down on September 2004 when it had a multiple copy circulation of 26,268 and is far less than The Independent's September 2005 figure of 36,193 and The Times' 39,462.
So the Berliner format has undoubtedly helped ease the pain at The Guardian. Whether the circulation gains will stick is a moot point. The spectacular growth enjoyed by The Independent since it went compact has certainly tailed off. Its circulation was down 0.77 percent year on year in September to 262,552, but was up 2.6 percent on August. (August tends to be a weak month for all newspapers as many readers are away on holiday). That performance does bear out the Indy's claims that the all-new Guardian hasn't hit it too hard though. The Times fared a little better, adding 2.82 percent month on month and 5.83 percent year on year to 699,425.
The unreformed broadsheet pages of The Telegraph are still holding their own. The Barclay brothers' title was up 0.4 percent year on year to 904,283 and down just 0.04 percent on the previous month.
The quality papers are generally having a better time of it than the tabloids. All of the daily redtops were down on August 2005 and September 2004 - more depressing news even than the latest revelations about Kate Moss's recreational habits. The Mirror lost 2.9 percent year on year to 1,741,740, while The Sun fell back 1.09 percent. However, the latter did lose more readers (-1.82) month on month than The Mirror (-1.58 percent).
The Express had a shocking month in the mid-market, losing 13.43 per cent of its circulation in year on year terms and giving it an ABC of just 831,373. The Daily Mail is still shipping readers, but at a far slower rate: it was down 2.83 percent on September last year.
Associated Newspapers stablemate The Evening Standard did well compared with the holiday month of August, adding 3.56 percent to its top-line figure, but continues to slide year on year (-10.91 percent this time).
The ABC may have to consider renaming its Sunday Popular category Sunday Unpopular if the releases continue to look like this. Every Sunday tabloid newspaper was down year on year, the Daily Star Sunday by 15.41 percent to a meager 410,595, The People by 9.69 per cent to 914,734 and The News of the World by 3.08 percent to 3,769,636. The latter was the only one to record a month on month rise, and that was by just 0.27 percent.
The Sunday mid-market will also be giving Richard Desmond a headache. The Sunday Express lost 14.38 percent of its circulation year on year to drop well below the 900,000 mark, while the Mail on Sunday was up 0.30 percent.
The quality papers didn't do much better. With the exception of The Sunday Times they were all down on September 2004, with The Observer and Independent on Sunday both falling 5.17 percent. Month on month things were a little brighter, with the Independent on Sunday, Observer, Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times all adding to their circulations.
The Observer will follow in the smaller footsteps of its daily cousin by adopting the Berliner format in the near future, possibly before the end of the year. In the meantime all eyes will be on The Guardian. It is just possible that rather than stealing readers from each other, the cut-sized qualities are actually hitting the tabloids hardest.
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By Graham Hayday
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