ABC Analysis – Scotland : December 2012
Overview by Fiona Booth – Research Manager
Average sales of daily and Sunday newspapers in Scotland during December were down 2.4% on last month according to new figures released by ABC today. Longer term the Scottish market is seeing a slightly steeper decline compared to the UK as a whole, with total sales of dailies and Sundays north of the Border down 4.9% in December compared to the same time last year.
The Sun continues to be the biggest selling newspaper in Scotland, as it is across the UK as a whole, with an average net circulation this month of 276,154. The Sunday Mail follows closely behind with average sales in December of 274,238, leaving a gap between the top two titles of less than 2k. Rounding out the top three is the Daily Record with an average net circulation in December of 240,120.
Only two titles saw sales growth in Scotland this month compared to November's figures – the Sunday Post and the Independent on Sunday, adding an average 653 and 427 copies respectively. The only title to post growth over the year was the i, who’s change in bulk policy in 2012 is largely to account for circulation being up a massive 46.5% on last December.
With the exception of the Sunday Post, all of the homegrown and tartan-topped titles lost circulation this month. The Scotsman did least badly, down only 0.8% compared to the month prior, whereas sister title Scotland on Sunday saw the steepest percentage decline of 5.7% on November. Longer term, none of these titles are up on last December, with the Sunday Mail seeing the biggest percentage drop year on year amongst the homegrown and tartan-topped newspapers, down 22.7% year on year.
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.