The Scottish Sun is claiming a victory in its hard-fought circulation war with the Daily Record, saying that in the week to 26 May it sold an average of 410,000 copies a day compared with the Trinity Mirror-owned tabloid’s 407,000.
The Scottish Sun’s breakthrough, apparently overtaking the Daily Record from Monday to Saturday for the first time, comes despite a reported 550,000 sale by the Daily Record last Saturday, helped by a major DVD promotion.
In a bitter circulation battle, the Scottish Sun had closed the gap to just 23,642 copies in April, when ABC figures revealed the average net circulation of the Daily Record in Scotland was 413,737 – compared to the Scottish Sun’s 389,503. The ABCs for May are expected to show the Daily Record still ahead with an average lead of between 13,000 and 15,000 copies.
The Scottish Sun started a price war 14 months ago by cutting its cover price in the Record’s West of Scotland heartland from 30p to 20p, and then cut its price to 10p at the end of March. The Record fought back by being available at 15p when bought using a voucher from the previous day’s edition.
Daily Record managing director Mark Hollinshead said: “The full month ABCs will show that the Daily Record at full cover price is still the market leader.”
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