ABC Analysis – Scotland : September 2012
Overview by Fiona Booth – Research Manager
After seeing a small uplift in August thanks to the Olympics, sales this month returned to the now usual month on month decline with average sales of daily and Sunday newspapers in Scotland* for September down 2.6% on August. According to new figures released by ABC today The Sun was the biggest selling newspaper in Scotland, with an average net circulation in September of 289,451. The Sunday Mail continues to snap at The Sun’s heels, with average sales in September of 281,549. Sister title the Daily Record rounds out the top three, posting a figure of 246,324 this month.
Longer term the Scottish market is seeing a comparable decline to the national, with total sales of dailies and Sundays north of the Border down 5.2% compared to this time last year.
Only two titles posted growth in Scotland this month on August– The Sunday Mirror and The People, adding an average 403 and 17 copies respectively (any growth is good!)
All of the homegrown and tartan-topped titles lost circulation this month. The Daily Record did least badly, down only 1.0% compared to the month prior, whereas The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday saw the steepest percentage declines, down 6.4% and 6.3% respectively compared to August. Longer term, the Sunday Mail saw the biggest percentage drop year on year amongst the homegrown and tartan-topped newspapers, down 23.7% on last September.
All figures sourced from ABC
* The Herald and Sunday Herald are now only releasing six monthly figures and are therefore not included in this analysis.