THE Times newspaper last month bucked the trend for falling year-on-year newspaper sales by registering a slight increase.
Says the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the title saw its average sale in Scotland last month rise by an average 1.6 per cent on 12 months previously; from an average 18,274 during March last year to an average 18,559 last month.
The Times joined the i newspaper which has, for some time, seen its year-on-year sales in Scotland figure rising.
But there was other relative good news. In the Sunday newspapers market, many of the year-on-year drops experienced between March last year and last month were not nearly as dramatic as those for February 2012-February 2013, which reflected the fact that the Sunday edition of The Scottish Sun had still to properly come on to the market.
Last month saw The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday no longer in the national listings after having requested – like The Herald and Sunday Herald last year – to appear in the twice-yearly ABC regional newspapers report.
In summary, the daily newspapers figures – issued at midday – concern sales in Scotland between March last year and last month and reveal the following:
Daily Mirror – 9.2 per cent drop = from 21,802 on average during March last year, to 19,800 last month;
Daily Record – 9.8 per drop = from 261,082 on average during March last year, to 235,384 last month;
Daily Star of Scotland – 16.4 per cent drop = 60,878 to 50,890;
The Scottish Sun – 13.3 cent drop = 314,726 to 272,854;
Scottish Daily Express – 6.1 per cent drop = 59,481 to 55,825;
Scottish Daily Mail – 6.5 per cent drop = 107,026 to 100,047;
Daily Telegraph – 4.6 per cent drop = 18,633 to 17,772;
Financial Times – 15.3 per cent drop = 3,173 to 2,686;
The Guardian – 8.9 per cent drop = 11,826 to 10,763;
i – 15.6 per cent up = 16,526 to 19,101;
Independent – 34.6 per cent drop = 4,832 to 3,158;
The Times – 1.6 per cent up = 18,274 to 18,559.
Meanwhile, the Sunday titles’ sales figures in Scotland were as follows:
Daily Star of Scotland – Sunday – 31.3 per cent down = 41,562 to 28,571;
The Scottish Sun – Sunday – 16.3 per cent down = 238,017 to 199,172;
Sunday Mail – 9.3 per cent down = 296,875 to 269,301;
Sunday Mirror – 3.1 per cent down = 21,259 to 20,598;
The People – 12.6 per cent down = 12,129 to 10,596;
Scottish Sunday Express – 5.5 per cent down = 33,934 to 32,074;
The Sunday Post – 13.9 per cent drop = 197,783 to 170,383;
Scottish Mail on Sunday – 5.4 per cent down = 93,862 to 88,748;
Independent on Sunday – 13.3 per cent down = 6,364 to 5,519;
The Observer – 6.3 per cent down = 15,863 to 14,868;
Sunday Telegraph – 0.9 cent down = 16,459 to 16,309; and
Sunday Times – 4.9 per cent down = 50,777 to 48,297.
