Indy and i circulation beats Guardian

The combined circulation of the Independent and its new daily sister newspaper i is now above The Guardian, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures.

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Today i revealed its first monthly audited circulation figures of 133,472, meaning the combined daily circulation in January of both titles was at 318,507, trumping The Guardian by 14%.

Managing director of i and The Independent Andrew Mullins says: “The fact that we have been able to grow the print category without cannibalising The Independent clearly demonstrates that there is a significant untapped market for time-poor consumers who want to read a concise, quality newspaper – and huge opportunities for advertisers to engage with them.”

Sales have been attributed to a significant marketing campaign, including its first TV advert which launched 16 January.

In the quality market, circulations rose across all titles, with an overall increase of 9.09% month on month, but down 10.44% year on year for the six months August to January. The month on month increase is largely due to December’s low figures, which were attributed to abnormal weather which affected distribution and consumer purchasing patterns.

The Independent, buoyed by the launch of i, saw circulation up 5.73% month on month to 185,035 and down 3.17% year on year. The Daily Telegraph’s circulation increased 3.15% to 651,184 month on month and the title is down 13.51% year on year. The Guardian’s circulation rose 5.47% to 279,308 month on month and is now down 11.21% year on year. The Times, which still operates its online edition behind a paywall, saw its print edition circulation rise slightly by 1.96% to 457,250 but is down a significant 14.48% year on year – the most dramatic decrease across the daily market.

The overall average net circulation for popular titles was up 7.89% month on month but the sector saw 4.26% year on year, for the six months August to January.

The Sun rose 10.48% month on month to 3,001,822 – back up above the psychological benchmark of 3 million readers for the first time in five months. For the six months, year on year, circulation still dropped off, down 3.16%.

The Daily Mirror rose 5.35% to 1,194,097 month on month and is down 6.2% year on year. The Daily Star saw an increase of 2.9% to 734,311 month on month.

The Financial Times was the only daily newspaper to see circulation slip in January – by 1.81% to 383,067 month on month, but is only down 2.77% year on year.

In the mid-market, The Daily Mail rose 5.2% month on month to 2,136,568 and is down just 1.24% year on year. The Associated Newspapers publication achieved a record high market share for the month of 21.3% and reported a revenue increase of 5% in its first quarter.

The Daily Express increased circulation by 2.6% month on month to 639,875 and is now down 7.22% year on year. At the time of going to press the Daily Mail’s circulation data was unavailable as figures had not been submitted in time to the Audit Bureau of Circulation for inclusion in its report. This will be updated shortly.

The national Sunday market only suffered circulation one monthly circulation decrease. The Daily Star on Sunday saw a drop off of 5.98% month on month to 316,712.

Among the other Sunday tabloid titles, the News of the World, which is currently being investigated for alleged phone hacking, saw a rise of 7.25% to 2,789,560 and the Sunday Mirror was up 4.34% to 1,092,816.

In the Sunday mid-market the Mail on Sunday rose only slightly by 0.32% to 1,958,083 and is down 3.17% year on year.

The Observer increased circulation by 4.22% month on month to 314,164, down a substantial 16.23% year on year, The Sunday Times rose 3.1% to 1,039,371 from December, The Independent on Sunday improved slightly by 1.41% to 152,561 and The Sunday Telegraph also saw a slight increase of 1.18% to 496,128.

Click here to read a Q&A with Andrew Mullins, managing director of i and the Independent

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