The Daily Star burst through the 900,000 sales barrier in July and now has a one million circulation target in its sights.
Last month, the Daily Star averaged sales of 912,767, its biggest monthly ?gure this year. Back in January, the paper was averaging sales of 835,343. It is now showing a year-on-year rise of 28 per cent.
All the titles in the national daily popular market showed month-onmonth gains in July. Despite recording a small month-on-month rise, there must be concern at the Daily Mirror on how its new non-aggression pact with the Daily Record in Scotland and the cutting of the Welsh and Irish editions will affect sales.
The last time the Mirror circulation topped more than 2 million was back in February.
The quality dailies, despite having a major political story in the “sexed-up” dossier affair to get their teeth into, are continuing to have a bad summer.
Only The Daily Telegraph and The Times were able to muster small rises on June. The sector as a whole is down nearly six per cent year-on-year.
In contrast, the Sunday popular market, once the worst performing sector, is showing year-on-year growth. This is mainly due to the arrival of the Daily Star Sunday. Last month it sold more than 500,000 for the ?rst time since January. The News of the World and The People also showed monthly rises.
In the mid-market Sundays, the Mail on Sunday hit its highest monthly sale this year with a ?gure of 2,408,549.
The Business and The Sunday Telegraph were the only quality Sunday titles to show a rise on June.
By Jon Slattery
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