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September 5, 2008

Gloomy August for national press – but Sun shines after price cut

By Dominic Ponsford

The national press had a particularly tough sales month in August – with every single title losing sales year-on-year.

Among the worst performers were the Daily Mirror – which was 8 per cent down year on year to 1,455,270 and the Daily Express, which fell 9.5 per cent to 748,664.

A reduction in promotional activity saw the Daily Star Sunday collapse 24.28 per cent year on year to 403,753.

The Sun felt the benefits of cutting its basic cover price from 35p to 30p in all regions at the beginning of August. It had the best sales performance of any UK national, down just 0.29 per cent to 3,148,792.

The Evening Standard’s overall circulation rose 0.48 per cent year on year to 278,889, thanks largely to bulk give-aways. Its paid-for sale was down 16.4 per cent year on year to 152,486.

It’s now two years since the free newspaper war between Standard owner Associated Newspapers‘ London Lite and News International‘s thelondonpaper erupted on the streets of London.

Distribution of the rival free dailies remained steady in the holiday month at around 400,000 for London Lite and 500,000 for thelondonpaper.

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Since they first emerged on the scene the Evening Standard has lost some 30 per cent of its paid-for circulation.

Free national daily Metro continues to increase its circulation. It distributed an average of 1,355,412 copies a day in August and looks likely to overtake the Daily Mirror before much longer.

Average national daily newspaper circulation in August (with percentage change)

  • Daily Mirror 1,455,270, -8.03
  • Daily Record 390,197,-6.29
  • Daily Star 751,494, -8.97
  • Daily Sport 79,415
  • The Sun 3,148,792, -0.29
  • Daily Express 748,664, -9.53
  • The Daily Mail 2,258,843, -3.44
  • The Daily Telegraph 860,298, -3.08
  • Financial Times 417,570, -2.17
  • The Herald 63,991, -7.34
  • The Guardian 332,587, -6.51
  • The Independent 230,033, -4.09
  • The Scotsman 52,821, -10.44
  • The Times 612,779, -4.08
  • Racing Post 67,701, -6.21
  • Evening Standard 278,889, 0.48

National Sundays

  • Daily Star Sunday 403,753,-24.28
  • News of the World 3,249,147,-3.07
  • Sunday Mail 481,456, -7.42
  • Sunday Mirror 1,311,386, -8.05
  • The People 649,420, -12.36
  • Sunday Sport 77,316, -16.69
  • Sunday Express 655,053, -16.93
  • Sunday Post 396,162, -4.63
  • The Mail on Sunday 2,177,527, -5.57
  • Independent on Sunday 196,752, -7.03
  • The Observer 411,244, -7.09
  • Scotland on Sunday 67,300,-12.50
  • Sunday Herald 47,680, -10.18
  • The Sunday Telegraph 618,772, -3.53
  • The Sunday Times 1,156,540, -2.82

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