Sunday Sun circulation drops 24%

News International’s Sunday edition of the Sun saw its circulation plummet 24% in March, showing signs that the interest in the title has waned since its launch in February.

Sun on Sunday

The new Sunday tabloid had an average circulation of 2,426,894 in March, according to ABC figures.

This is down from the 3.2 million News International hoped it would maintain on a consistent basis, to emulate the share of the Sunday market its former title the News of the World had before its closure.

Last month News International said it was to step up targeted marketing for the Sunday Sun to recruit lapsed News of the World readers in a bid to make a 38% market share landgrab of the Sunday sector.

The Sunday Sun’s circulation slump in March did not appear to be beneficial to its rivals, however, as all of the Sunday red tops reported double digit circulation decreases in the period.

Its closest rival, the Sunday Mirror, was down 31% to 1,106,259 in March, although the title is still up 47% year-on-year.

Daily Star Sunday, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the News of the World’s closure last year, was down 19% in March to 483,477. The title is up 91% year-on-year.

In the mid-market, The Mail on Sunday was down 3% month-on-month to 1,824,965, while the Sunday Express was down 11% to 503,985.

The national daily sector did not appear to suffer such a torrid month as the Sunday market, with many titles’ circulations slightly up in the period.

The Guardian was up 0.6% month on month to 217,190. This follows its biggest brand campaign in 26 years to highlight its multiplatform approach to journalism.

The i continued its run of form since its 2011 launch and was up 3.5% month-on-month to 273,793.

Circulation figures for March (source: ABC) –

Title Circulation Month/Month %
     
Daily Mirror 1,083,938 -1.71
Daily Star 294,442 0.90
The Sun 2,614,725 1.26
Daily Express 558,513 -3.29
Daily  Mail 1,952,524 0.36
Daily Telegraph 576,378 -0.41
Financial Times 319.381 0.91
The Guardian 217,793 0.56
I 273,793 3.54
The Independent 100,672 -4.27
The Times 394,102 -0.87
Daily Star Sunday 483,477 -19.30
The Sun (Sunday) 2,426,894 -24.48
Sunday Mirror            1,106,259 -30.61
The People 463,936 -33.84
Sunday Express 503,985 -11.24
Mail on Sunday 1,824,965 -3.05
Independent on Sunday 124,921 0.53
The Observer 251,074 -0.77
Sunday Telegraph 451,731 -2.07
Sunday Times 928,260 -1.19

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