It’s the final ABC of 2018 and allow as us to access how the last half of the year have fared for the print brands. December is down 2% on the month and 10% on December 2018 with the morning market doing marginally better than the Sunday. The tabloids had a decent month with most of them opting to exclude their sales from 24th to 28th – which is perfectly legitimate.
We have to wait until the 21st of February for the release of the ‘Island of Ireland’ report, but I suspect that the figures will be poor. When the ABC released the June ABC (2018) I looked at the select titles here* and they were showing a decline of 8% year on year.
When the ‘Island of Ireland’ was released (August 2018) it showed that the total market had contracted by 8%! So, the monthly ABC’s are a decent bellwether for the overall market.
Looking at the year on year for the titles that are audited monthly, it shows that they are down 10% on the year. If history repeats itself, the newspaper market here is in for a double-digit decline year on year.
| Title | Dec-18 | Nov-18 | Dec-17 | M/M | Y/Y | % M/M | % Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Mirror | 28,599 | 27,503 | 30,950 | 1,096 | -2,351 | 4% | -8% |
| Daily Record | 242 | 233 | 246 | 9 | -4 | 4% | -2% |
| Irish Daily Star | 43,294 | 42,680 | 46,512 | 614 | -3,218 | 1% | -7% |
| The Sun | 50,389 | 50,503 | 55,931 | -114 | -5,542 | 0% | -10% |
| Tabloids | 122,524 | 120,919 | 133,639 | 1,605 | -11,115 | 1% | -8% |
| Daily Express | 2,031 | 2,042 | 2,391 | -11 | -360 | -1% | -15% |
| Irish Daily Mail | 29,441 | 30,007 | 34,247 | -566 | -4,806 | -2% | -14% |
| Daily Telegraph | 1,936 | 1,861 | 2,078 | 75 | -142 | 4% | -7% |
| Financial Times | 2,258 | 1,560 | 2,362 | 698 | -104 | 45% | -4% |
| The Guardian | 2,053 | 1,940 | 2,196 | 113 | -143 | 6% | -7% |
| The Times | 6,436 | 6,521 | 10,020 | -85 | -3,584 | -1% | -36% |
| Morning Market | 166,679 | 164,850 | 186,933 | 1,829 | -20,254 | 1% | -11% |
| Daily Star - Sunday | 12,237 | 11,434 | 15,322 | 803 | -3,085 | 7% | -20% |
| Sun on Sunday | 47,137 | 49,147 | 51,877 | -2,010 | -4,740 | -4% | -9% |
| Sunday Mail | 323 | 602 | 710 | -279 | -387 | -46% | -55% |
| Sunday Mirror | 20,267 | 19,731 | 20,627 | 536 | -360 | 3% | -2% |
| The People | 7,058 | 7,128 | 7,871 | -70 | -813 | -1% | -10% |
| Sunday Express | 2,411 | 2,522 | 2,792 | -111 | -381 | -4% | -14% |
| Sunday Post | 323 | 342 | 448 | -19 | -125 | -6% | -28% |
| Mail on Sunday | 58,394 | 60,789 | 68,117 | -2,395 | -9,723 | -4% | -14% |
| The Observer | 4,145 | 4,042 | 4,317 | 103 | -172 | 3% | -4% |
| Sunday Telegraph | 1,515 | 1,539 | 1,679 | -24 | -164 | -2% | -10% |
| Sunday Times | 69,784 | 74,342 | 73,464 | -4,558 | -3,680 | -6% | -5% |
| Sunday Market | 223,594 | 231,618 | 247,224 | -8,024 | -23,630 | -3% | -10% |
| Total Market | 390,273 | 396,468 | 434,157 | -6,195 | -43,884 | -2% | -10% |
