NEWSPAPER SALES fell in the first half of this year for all Irish daily and Sunday titles, according to the latest “island of Ireland” figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC).
Figures released yesterday by ABC show that sales of The Irish Timesfell 4.5 per cent between January and June this year, compared with the same period in 2010. The circulation of The Irish Times now stands at 100,951, down 4,791 from 105,741 copies in the first half of 2010.
The ABC report shows that circulation at the Irish Independentis now 134,228, down 7.4 per cent – or 10,668 copies – compared to the same period last year.
The percentage of actively purchased editions of The Irish Timesremains at 91.5 per cent, or 91,908 copies. At the Irish Independent, actively purchased editions account for 88.3 per cent of sales, or 118,510.
The figures also show readers of the Irish Independentare increasingly opting for the tabloid edition of the newspaper, which accounts for just over 70 per cent of its copies while the broadsheet makes up just under 30 per cent of copies.
The Irish Examinercirculation also fell again during the past six months and now stands at 43,390, down 7.1 per cent or 3,297 copies during the same period last year.
The Daily Star'scirculation in the Republic is now 80,349 copies, a decrease of 6,532 copies or 7.5 per cent. The island of Ireland figures for the Irish edition of the Daily Starstand at 87,121.
Among the evening dailies, the Evening Echoin Cork experienced a sharp drop in circulation, down 10.2 per cent to 20,011 copies. The Evening Heraldalso experienced a drop in circulation, down 8.5 per cent to 61,936 copies.
The environment for newspapers remains challenging, although Liam Kavanagh, managing director of The Irish Times, said he was pleased the newspaper's market share had increased.
“The ABC figures do not account for the ePaper edition sales. But in the next audit we will be able to report on those separately and the audit will show sales in the order of 2,000 additional copies per day,” he said.
Mr Kavanagh said the improved market share was helped by the home delivery service, which now accounts for approximately 4 per cent of the newspaper’s daily sales.
The latest ABC figures are the first to show newspaper circulation since the closure of both the Sunday Tribune– which ceased publishing last February – and the Star on Sunday, whose last edition appeared in January.
While many Sunday papers recorded small increases in the months following the closure of both papers, the circulation of the majority of papers is down when compared to the January to June period last year.
The figures show that sales of the Sunday Independentstand at 255,806 copies, down by 9,649 copies or 3.6 per cent over the same period last year. The Sunday Business Post'scirculation is 47,849, also down 3.6 per cent.
The island of Ireland report does not include British newspapers that publish Irish editions. However, separate ABC figures show that the Irish edition of the Sunday Timesrecorded a circulation of 110,692, a decrease of 948 copies or 0.8 per cent.
The Irish edition of the Sunfell by 7.2 per cent to 79,893, while the Mirroris up by 2.5 per cent to 61,998. The Irish Daily Mailalso experienced a gain of 650 copies or 1.3 per cent to 51,072.
As with its daily edition, the Sunday Mirrorincreased circulation by 3,458 or 9.3 per cent to 40,785. The Irish Mail on Sunday'scirculation is also up and stands at 113,160, an increase of 0.2 per cent.
