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December 17, 2018updated 30 Sep 2022 7:15am

Sun boasts largest monthly readership across UK national newsbrands but Guardian top on trust, according to Pamco

By Freddy Mayhew

The Sun has the largest monthly reach of any UK national newsbrand across print and online, according to the latest readership figures.

The newsbrand – including The Sun, Sun on Sunday and its digital/online platforms – has a total monthly brand reach of 29.5m, according to the Published Audience Measurement Company, or Pamco.

The Mail is behind the Sun with a total monthly brand reach of 26.8m followed by the Guardian at 23.5m. These figures are just for UK audience.

Scroll down for the full Pamco figures

Pamco replaced the National Readership Survey earlier this year. The figures – the fourth set released so far – cover the year to the end of September and are combined with Comscore website data for September.

The Sun has by far the largest monthly reach on mobile in the UK at 20.9m according to the new data. It is also top on tablet with a monthly reach of 3.3m – just ahead of the Mail and Telegraph.

On desktop The Guardian has the largest monthly reach at 7m. The Telegraph is its closest rival on this platform with a monthly reach of 5.1m.

In print, the Metro has the largest monthly brand reach at 9.65m, followed by the Sun at 8.4m.

The free Metro has the largest print circulation, according to ABC figures, with the Sun the best-selling title.

The figures also show that Guardian readers scored their newspaper highest for trust and engagement.

Nine out of ten of more than 700 Guardian readers (weighted sample) said they trusted what they read in the print title and 99 per cent agree with the statement that reading it is time well spent.

In digital, 85 per cent say they trust what they see on its website and 97 per cent say reading or looking at it is time well spent (again the highest among newsbrands).

Guardian News and Media editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said: “This fantastic set of results demonstrates the Guardian’s unique position in the media.

“We see consistently high scores for trust and engagement from both our digital and print readers, and it is excellent news that the Guardian resonates so strongly with younger audiences too.”

UK national newsbrands’ monthly reach Oct 2017-Sept 2018 (including Sept UK Comscore data) in millions (Pamco):

Brand (includes Sunday title and website) Monthly reach in 1000s
i                                        4,764
The Times                                        8,250
Independent                                        18,439
The Telegraph                                        22,539
The Guardian                                         23,473
Evening Standard                                          13,397
Express                                          14,281
Metro                                          21,464
Mirror                                          21,992
The Mail                                          26,766
Sun                                          29,488
Daily Record (Scotland)                                             4,296
Daily Star                                             6,700

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