The latest sales figures for British newspapers circulating in the Republic provide little relief for the major newspaper groups, with the Financial Times, the London Independent, the People and even the Sun on the slide.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures covering the second half of 2003 (up to the end of December) also show that the News of the World has not retreated in the face of the Star on Sunday.
The News of the World's sales figures were up 1,924 to 167,248 putting it well clear of any other British newspaper on sale in Ireland on Sunday, even the bulky Sunday Times. We will find out shortly whether the strength of the News of the World has damaged its two Irish competitors, the Sunday World and the Star on Sunday.
It certainly appears to have damaged the People newspaper in Ireland, with its circulation dropping from 57,243 to 53,709.
Among the broadsheets, the Financial Times, despite an expensive relaunch of its Saturday edition, is in retreat in Britain and Ireland. Recently its British circulation figures for the second half of 2003 fell 3.68 per cent. According to the Irish data, its circulation here at 4,145 is down an alarming 16.9 per cent.
The picture for the London Independent has been more mixed. A tabloid version of the paper appears to have chimed with hard-pressed London tube users and this helped circulation for the daily edition to rise by 6,000 in the second half of 2003 in Britain.
However, the Sunday version of the paper has struggled in Britain with sales down 4 per cent. In Ireland, the sales of the Sunday edition have been a disaster of late, down 23 per cent for the second half of 2003.
In contrast, the Observer has managed, with a mixture of Irish news and columnists like Henry McDonald, to grow circulation in Ireland from 10,474 to 11,813 in the six months from July to Christmas.
Meanwhile the Mirror recorded a small gain in this period, while the Sun's circulation was down from 116,140 to 115,711.
Bowl boost
Advertisers in the US and by extension in other western markets will take cheer from bookings for this year's Super Bowl.
The average price paid for a 30-second Superbowl slot has risen 7 per cent to €2.25 million. The event, regarded as the centre piece of the marketing year in the US, is likely to attract an audience of about 90 to 100 million viewers.
Among those taking slots during the game are Budweiser, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble.
The $2.25 million average for the 62 spots means marketers will spend about $139.5 million or about $1.61 for each viewer they get.
Lite FM shake-up
Following poor results in the last JNLR book Lite FM, now owned by UTV, has brought in some new faces in an attempt to improve its position.
Ian Walker, an experienced UK programmer, becomes radio programme director. Walker has worked extensively in the radio market in Britain and his native Australia.
Lite has also announced some on-air appointments, with former Atlantic 252 presenter Liam Coburn coming on board. Lite has appointed Sarah Dunne as a senior broadcast journalist. She previously worked in the newsroom at Red FM in Cork. A former 98 FM producer, Trina Mara joins the station as senior producer.
Mindshare wins award
Dublin agency Mindshare won the grand prix award in Marketing magazine's media awards this week.
As well as winning the grand prix and media idea category, the agency also won the launch and integrated categories for Harvey Norman (the Australian electrical, computer and furniture and bedding retailer) and Heineken Ireland's Green Energy campaigns respectively.
The full set of winners were: Grand Prix award, Seven Seas Active 55 by MindShare; launch campaign, Harvey Norman by MindShare; integrated campaign, Heineken Green Energy 2003 by MindShare; long-term brand campaign, Today FM, by Cawley Nea\TBWA; media idea, Seven Seas Active 55 by MindShare.
eoliver@irish-times.ie
