ABC Analysis: National papers enjoy monthly sales rally but all titles down on last year

According to the latest ABC figures, newspaper sales in April were up for a change, albeit modestly at +0.4 per cent on March’s sales, with ten publications clawing back circulation gains month on month. Longer term, all circulation is down -7.6 per cent compared to April 2013, with sales for every title down on the same time last year.

The top three selling titles in the UK in April remained unchanged with all three titles showing sales growth month on month. Still topping the pile was the Sun, adding an average of over 21,000 sales daily this month to keep its head above the 2m mark with a circulation figure of 2,091,484. The Daily Mail held onto second place in April with an average circulation of 1,721,589, up +0.8 per cent on March. Rounding out the top three is the Sun on Sunday with average sales of 1,721,068 this month, up +2.0 per cent on last month.There was also no change at the bottom with the Independent and Independent on Sunday continuing to bring up the rear. The Independent on Sunday rallied a little this month, adding 1 per cent to its average sales to keep it from sliding below 100,000.The Sunday market fared marginally better than the daily market in April, although there was very little between it at +0.44 per cent and 0.37 per cent respectively. The Sunday market also boasted marginally more titles improving on their circulation month on month, six to the daily market’s four. Longer term, however, the dailies' slide is slightly less drastic at -6.8 per cent year on year compared to the Sunday market’s -8.4 per cent.By sector, the qualities had a turnabout this month and collectively lost -1.1 per cent circulation compared to March’s sales, with only two titles showing an increase in sales in April. In the mid-market sector the Daily Express was the only one of the four titles to see sales fall, but that didn’t stop the sector as a whole claiming an +0.7 per cent increase in circulation in April. It was a similar picture for the popular sector with one title only, the Daily Star Sunday, bucking the rest of the sector’s circulation gains trend to post a loss in sales month on month. Despite this, the populars en masse increased sales month on month by -1.0 per cent, beating the qualities and the mids. Longer term, the situation was reversed with the populars down the steepest at -9.2 per cent year on year, the mids down -6.3 per cent, and the qualities faring least badly at -5.8 per cent compared to the last April.All figures sourced from ABC. Analysis provided by Fiona Booth, account director, Insight at Carat