The circulation of the Irish edition of the Daily Mail has dropped by almost 15 per cent according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
The latest figures released in the UK put the paper's average daily sale at 70,610 for April, compared with 82,787 in March. This was a fall of 14.7 per cent.
The slippage in sales will be a boost to the rivals of Associated Newspapers, who publish the paper. However, the paper only entered the Irish market on February 5th and advertisers say it will take time to settle into a long-term sales range. Associated Newspapers also owns Ireland on Sunday.
The Daily Mail edition in the UK has been sold in Ireland for decades and by the end of March, 2005, it had an average sale of 9,404. But since February 5th its Irish edition has entered the market, taking on several titles owned by Independent News and Media.
The new paper has been aggressively priced, starting at 30 cent and moving up to 50 cent recently. At weekends it has been sold at 75 cent. In the first few days the paper was given free in some locations.
The paper recently started accepting Irish advertising. Advertising reaction has been positive, but several agencies believe the paper needs to recruit more well known Irish journalists and expand its Irish sports coverage.
The paper has placed a special emphasis on attracting female readers.
