No bounce back for newspapers after summer break

Newspaper circulation failed to rise following the return to work after the summer break, with weekday popular titles dropping 1.71% in total month-on-month and quality titles sliding 0.27% in September on August, according to latest ABC figures.

The Sun, which bucked the usual summer trend of a dip in August , saw its figure drop 1.57% month on month in September to 3,079,451 and a 2.53% drop year-on-year for the six month period April to September.

The newspaper has just appointed its second consecutive interim marketing director, Rob Planter and has just declared its support for the Conservative party, which may be reflected in the next ABCs.

The Daily Mirror saw a 1.4% fall to 1,306,394 month-on-month and a 9.37% drop for the six months, year-on-year. The Daily Star’s lower price failed to save it from a 2.62% fall to 863,559 month-on-month.

In the quality sector, The Independent, now looking a little more confident about its future after solving immediate financial problems, posted an average net circulation down 0.72% to 186,490 for September. The title is down 16.53% for the six months April to September, year-on-year. It now has a new commercial director at the helm in the form of Simon Davis.

The Guardian did see a rise of 1.15% to 314,963 for September on August to 314,963 while rivals The Daily Telegraph and The Times dropped 1.51% to 801,782 and 0.81% to 571,506 respectively.

The Financial Times, which launched an outdoor campaign in the capital in mid-September to promote its editorial content, saw a rise of 3.21% to 408,544 for September but is down 6.56% for April to September, year-on-year. This may still reflect the stripping out of bulks by the publication over recent months.

The mid-market saw the Daily Mail, which has just appointed M&C Saatchi as its advertising agency, saw a drop of 0.54% to 2,159, 931 month-on-month and the Daily Express fell 2.49% to 712,023.

The Sunday quality newspapers actually did see an overall rise month-on-month of 2.31% with The Observer up a sizeable 6.59% to 385,617, The Sunday Times up 3.63% to 1,207,141 and the Sunday Telegraph up 0.04% to 599,380.

In the popular sector the News of the World rose 0.26% to 3,129,162 and the Sunday Mirror fell 1.26% to 1,221,676. The mid-market saw the Sunday Express tumble 4.3% and the Mail on Sunday fall 0.05% to 619,032 and 2,012,741 respectively.

The Evening Standard became a free title on October 12 but in September and now distributes 600,000 copies.