Newspaper sales decline in first half of this year

Sales of daily newspapers in Ireland declined by 6 per cent across the board in the first half of this year and by 7 per cent for Sundays when compared with the January to June period of 2012. This continues a trend dating from 2007.

The Irish Times had an average daily circulation of 84,201 for the first six months of this year, according to figures published today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

This was 4.7 per cent lower than the average circulation of 88,356 achieved in the July to December period in 2012 and 9 per cent below the 92,565 recorded for the first six months of last year.

While not included in the data published by ABC, The Irish Times ePaper recorded a daily sale of 2,747 between January and June of this year, up 20 per cent annually.

Another 2,200 people accessed The Irish Times on a Kindle device in the first half of this year.

The Irish Independent’s average daily circulation was 121,120 for the six months. This was down 4,866 or 3.9 per cent on the previous year.

The Irish Examiner’s circulation fell by 5.8 per cent or 2,348 copies per day to an average of 37,897.

The Herald, another daily title owned by Independent News & Media (INM), saw its circulation fall by 4.3 per cent to 58,545. Earlier this year the Herald switched to being a morning title from its previous evening slot.

Among the tabloids, the Irish Daily Star’s circulation in the Republic fell by 12.3 per cent to an average of 60,707 per day.

The Irish Sun was down 10 per cent at 65,263 while the Irish Daily Mirror was 5 per cent lower at 54,550.

On a year-on-year comparison, the Irish Daily Mail’s circulation was flat at 50,680 but the title was up 3.5 per cent when compared with the July to December 2012 period.

Among the Sunday papers, the Sunday Independent remains the biggest title with an average weekly circulation of 232,494. This was 2.6 per cent lower than for the same period in 2012.

Fellow INM title the Sunday World, achieved an average circulation of 211,161. This was 6.9 per cent down from the 226,932 recorded in the first half of last year.

The Sunday Times circulation fell by 7.3 per cent or 7,785 copies per week to 98,328 while the Sunday Business Post, which exited examinership under new owners recently, declined by 6.7 per cent to 38,293.

Commenting on the circulation data, Irish Times managing director Liam Kavanagh said:

“While the numbers in the report are disappointing, we are seeing significant growth in relation to our online readership. Our investment in the content management system, the launch of a new news app and a new mobile site are now giving us strong growth in digital traffic. The challenge now is to build revenue from them.”