Cheltenham was the only event to bring a smile to tabloid newspaper executives with the Star and Sun adding a few copies this month on the back of the festival. Surprisingly The Mirror didn’t see any payout from the horses and they actually lost 300 odd copies month on month.
The Daily star did exceptionally well adding 2,300 to its figure and the Sun added 1,400. But the uplift will be fleeting and April will see these sales disappear. The festival is a big investment for the tabloids in terms of resources and newsprint and each passing year it’s simply not having the same bang for its buck like in the ‘good times’.
The strength of the tabloids means that the morning market increased by 1% on the month but are down 7% year on Year.
The Sundays don’t get the lift that the morning titles do in March, with most of them showing a decline month on month. The Sun on Sunday, The People and Sunday Times are the exception to that rule this month.
The Daily Star Sunday is feeling the strain as it has declined 18% year on year, the biggest decrease in the market after the Daily Record*. There’s plenty of speculation this month about a possible sale of the Star and Star on Sunday to Trinity Mirror which could have serious implications on the Irish Daily Star and its JV with IN&M in that the JV might (legally) expire under new owners.
The Sunday Times managed a small increase and, it couldn’t be overlooked, the Sunday Mirror landed bang on 30,000. If I were cynical….!
*Some time back I mentioned that the Record was pulling out of the market and this nugget was picked up elsewhere. In that other article they staunchly denied any notion of leaving the market… And today they are 27% below where they were in March ’14. I’d suggest that something is happening their distribution and, although they may not be pulling out, it certainly smacks of bowing out gracefully.
| Title | Mar-15 | Mar-14 | Feb-15 | Y o Y | M o M | Y % +/- | M % +/- |
| Daily Mirror | 44,130 | 50,113 | 44,348 | -5,983 | -218 | -12% | 0% |
| Daily Record | 292 | 401 | 303 | -109 | -11 | -27% | -4% |
| Irish Daily Star | 59,608 | 60,327 | 57,277 | -719 | 2,331 | -1% | 4% |
| The Sun | 57,808 | 61,005 | 56,345 | -3,197 | 1,463 | -5% | 3% |
| Tabloids | 161,838 | 171,846 | 158,273 | -10,008 | 3,565 | -6% | 2% |
| Daily Express | 2,571 | 2,740 | 2,507 | -169 | 64 | -6% | 3% |
| Irish Daily Mail | 45,173 | 50,901 | 46,824 | -5,728 | -1,651 | -11% | -4% |
| The Daily Telegraph | 2,550 | 2,656 | 2,522 | -106 | 28 | -4% | 1% |
| Financial Times | 2,357 | 2,480 | 2,404 | -123 | -47 | -5% | -2% |
| The Guardian | 2,496 | 2,744 | 2,521 | -248 | -25 | -9% | -1% |
| i | |||||||
| The Independent | |||||||
| The Times | 2,272 | 2,137 | 2,242 | 135 | 30 | 6% | 1% |
| Morning Market | 219,257 | 235,504 | 217,293 | -16,247 | 1,964 | -7% | 1% |
| Daily Star – Sunday | 15,943 | 19,468 | 16,574 | -3,525 | -631 | -18% | -3% |
| The Sun/NotW | 53,309 | 56,101 | 52,553 | -2,792 | 756 | -5% | 1% |
| Sunday Mail | 813 | 899 | 795 | -86 | 18 | -10% | 2% |
| Sunday Mirror | 30,000 | 35,867 | 30,204 | -5,867 | -204 | -16% | -1% |
| The People | 12,033 | 13,699 | 11,800 | -1,666 | 233 | -12% | 2% |
| Sunday Express | 3,106 | 3,494 | 3,164 | -388 | -58 | -11% | -2% |
| Sunday Post | 477 | 525 | 492 | -48 | -15 | -9% | -3% |
| The Mail on Sunday | 90,032 | 100,128 | 92,190 | -10,096 | -2,158 | -10% | -2% |
| Independent on Sunday | |||||||
| The Observer | 4,861 | 5,459 | 4,909 | -598 | -48 | -11% | -1% |
| The Sunday Telegraph | 2,248 | 2,567 | 2,176 | -319 | 72 | -12% | 3% |
| The Sunday Times | 84,073 | 96,732 | 83,753 | -12,659 | 320 | -13% | 0% |
| Sunday Market | 296,895 | 334,939 | 298,610 | -38,044 | -1,715 | -11% | -1% |
| Total Market | 516,152 | 570,443 | 515,903 | -54,291 | 249 | -10% | 0% |
