The Sun increases share of female readers
The Sun is gaining both male and female readers as it continues to show strong growth, according to the National Readership Survey for the year to June. The tabloid, which has seen strong circulation growth this year, has an estimated readership of 8 million.
The paper’s mix of celebrity gossip and sport is a hit with both sexes with a 2% year-on-year increase in male readers and a 6% year-on-year rise in female readers.
Overall, the survey shows that women are losing interest in the national press. The Daily Mail is the only other national newspaper to show an increase in female readers, with a rise of 3%, but Mirror Group-owned Scottish tabloid The Daily Record also showed a 5% increase in female readers.
The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Independent and showed a loss of readers, although The Times has seen a 4% increase year-on-year among men, leading to a 2% year-on-year rise overall. Its readership is an estimated 1.7m.
It is bleak news for the Sunday newspapers with nearly all of the nationals losing readership. The Mail on Sunday has recorded a 2% increase year on year and Scotland’s Sunday Herald has also risen by 5%. The Mail on Sunday remains the most widely read Sunday with an estimated readership of 5.9m.
Meanwhile, The Sunday Times, The Independent on Sunday and the News of the World all recording a 10% drop year on year, and The Observer and The Sunday Telegraph fell by 7%.
The London freesheets reported strong figures as readers continue to abandon The Evening Standard. The Associated Newspapers-owned title has seen a 13% drop in the six months to the end of June to 601,000 readers, while its sister paper, London Lite, has seen readership rise by 53% to 1.1 million over the same six months. It puts it ahead of rival thelondonpaper, owned by News International, which saw a 42% rise to 1 million. The Audit Bureau of Circulations figures put thelondonpaper ahead. Both trail market leader, Metro, which has reported a 39% increase of the six months to 3.2 million.
