Telegraph Olympic strategy shows signs of pay off
The Daily Telegraph’s strategy to place considerable investment in its Olympics coverage in the hope of attracting new readers appears to have paid off as the title was one of the few newspapers to report a circulation uplift in July. (FULL DATA IN TABLE BELOW)
The broadsheet increased its average net circulation by 1.3 per cent to 581,249 month on month, although the title is down 8.5 per cent year on year, according to the latest ABC figures, which covered the month to 29 July.
The Telegraph had more than 100 staff working directly on the Olympics and also set up an Olympic Committee, which include marketing personnel, as it looked to attract a wider audience from its coverage of the event. The paper launched a marketing campaign to trumpet its coverage in July.
Other daily titles on the up include the I newspaper, which increased 2.8 per cent month on month to 280,122 and the Daily Star, up 3.5 per cent to 623,534.
While there were some benefactors of consumer demand for Olympic coverage, other titles appeared to suffer as a result.
The Daily Express suffered the biggest monthly circulation dent. The title was down 7.8 per cent to 555,544.
The Independent continues its circulation decline and was down a further 7.1 per cent to 83,619. The newspaper is down 47.2 per cent year on year.
In the Sunday market, Telegraph Media Group again marked an uplift in July. The Sunday Telegraph increased its circulation by 1.4 per cent to 456,487.
The Sunday Times and The Observer also posted slight circulation increases in the period.
Of the Sunday red top titles, only The People increased it circulation. The title was up 2 per cent month on month to 459,032.
| Title | June Circulation | Month on Month % | Year on Year % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Mirror | 1,082,054 | 0.07 | -7.3 |
| Daily Star | 623,534 | 3.53 | -13.01 |
| The Sun | 2,550,859 | -1.27 | -7.86 |
| Daily Express | 555,544 | -7.79 | -7.87 |
| Daily Mail | 1,921,239 | -0.95 | -5.46 |
| Daily Telegraph | 581,249 | 1.32 | -8.5 |
| Financial Times | 290,765 | -2.17 | -16.31 |
| The Guardian | 209,354 | -1.02 | -17.47 |
| i | 280,122 | 2.76 | 58.34 |
| The Independent | 83,619 | -7.09 | -47.19 |
| The Times | 404,099 | 0.99 | -10.65 |
| Daily Star Sunday | 456,429 | -3.58 | 35.72 |
| The Sun (Sunday) | 2,157,482 | -1.48 | N/A |
| Sunday Mirror | 1,077,882 | -0.98 | -2.13 |
| The People | 459,032 | 1.99 | -6.46 |
| Sunday Express | 503,492 | -1.82 | -8.07 |
| Mail on Sunday | 1,779,449 | -2.46 | -7.71 |
| Independent on Sunday | 118,759 | -3.12 | -20.51 |
| The Observer | 245,094 | 0.47 | -15.39 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 456,487 | 1.38 | -7.01 |
| Sunday Times | 919,424 | 0.38 | -9.20 |
