Mail overtakes Sun as UK’s most-read newsbrand, Pamco readership figures show

The Mail has overtaken The Sun as the most-read UK national newsbrand across print and online, according to the latest Pamco readership figures.

The Mail had a total monthly UK brand reach of 31.1m across print titles the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as well as its website Mail Online.

The Sun titles were just behind with a monthly reach of 29.7m, a figure that includes traffic to the brand’s bingo and fantasy football websites.

The Mail is the most-read newsbrand on tablet and is closing in on the Guardian as the most-read on desktop with a monthly readership of 6.7m (Guardian: 6.9m).

Martin Clarke, publisher at DMG Media, which publishes the Mail titles, said: ‘While other brands are in decline, DMG media’s trusted news portfolio continues to go from strength to strength, demonstrated by the fact the Mail news brand has outperformed The Sun to become Britain’s number one news title.

“Our highly engaged UK audience consistently identifies Mail Online as their number one daily destination for news, showbiz, sports, crime, health, and lifestyle, with our audience spending twice the amount of time on our site than any other.

“We are delighted with the results and remain dedicated to providing trusted breaking news and comprehensive analysis.”

Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig added: “These results show that not only are we still the most popular newspaper at the weekend, with the most read supplements and lifestyle sections, but we are growing our lead over our rivals.

“That is a testament to our belief that there remains a real desire and appetite for quality journalism, and an endorsement from our exceptionally loyal readers who we seek to inspire, guide and challenge every day.”

Pamco replaced the UK National Readership Survey last year as the industry standard audience measurement for news publishers. Its latest results cover the year from April 2018 to March 2019 and include associated websites.

Pamco figures released earlier this year showed The Sun was ahead of The Mail in the race to be the most popular national news outlet.

The Sun continues to be the most-read newsbrand on mobile at 22.2m (mail: 21.5m) and among paid-for print titles at 7.9m (Mail: 7.5m; Metro: 9.3m). It has a desktop readership of 2.9m.

A Sun spokesperson said: “Our paper is the best-selling in Britain. Our day-in, day-out readers know what they’re getting: the widest spread of news, from hard politics to showbiz exclusives and everything in between.”

“There’s something to start a conversation on every page – web or print.”

The title’s Sun Savers scheme, which rewards loyal readers with £5 for every 28 codes from they enter from the paper, recently hit 1m sign-ups.

Scroll down for the full Pamco figures

The figures show the Mirror was the second most popular red top brand with a monthly total brand reach of 25.3m, ahead of Reach stablemate The Express which had a total readership of 20.2m across its titles.

Free dailies the Evening Standard and Metro had monthly reaches of 17m and 19.8m respectively.

The Guardian fared the best among the quality dailies with a total monthly brand reach of 24.9m – a notch above The Telegraph titles at 22.7m.

Pamco UK national newsbrands’ total monthly brand reach April 2018-March 2019 (including March 2019 Comscore data):

Picture: Reuters/Toby Melville

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