ABCs: Jacko helps tabloids, Evening Standard no longer “national”

Michael Jackson’s untimely death may have helped the tabloids to lift their average net circulation during June, according to latest ABC figures.

Newspapers
Newspapers

Coverage of the “king of pop”, whose death began to dominate the news agenda from June 26th, together with a price cut in the Carlton region, may have helped The Sun rise 1.48% in June on May to 3,028,302. News International is set to introduce the price drop in northern regions next week.

The Daily Mirror posted a rise of 0.38% for June on May to 1,330,301 but dropped 10.28% for the period January to June year-on-year.

The Daily Star, which has been seeing rising circulation on the back of its 20 pence cover price introduced last year continued to climb, up 3.54% to 8790,457.

The London Evening Standard, now owned by Alexander Lebedev, has decided not to classsify itself as a national title and has not posted a UK National Newspapers ABC figure. It is now reporting as a regional title. Its last national figure saw a 19.9% drop for May on April and the title is still struggling to make headway despite its recent advertising campaigns in the capital.

Telegraph Media Group saw a drop from last month’s uplift driven by the scoop on MP’s expenses. The Daily Telegraph fell 0.12% to 835,419 while The Sunday Telegraph fell back 0.52% to 615,935.

The Guardian saw a reversal in fortune from the previous month and rose 0.12% to 336,034 in June on May. The newspaper is down 4.12% for the six month January to June compared to the same period last year The Times saw a drop of 0.04% to 590,900 for the month while The Independent continued to slump with a circulation down 1.96% month on month to 200,399 and 15.83% year-on-year.

The Financial Times, which recently launched an advertisement featuring US President Barack Obama under its “We live in Financial Times” strapline, posted a 0.26% rise for June to 411,998 but dropped 6.19% period-on-period.

The mid-market titles both saw rises with the Daily Mail up 0.21% to 2,201,088 and the Daily Express up 1.36% up 729,507.

In the Sunday market the News of the World, currently the focus of much media scrutiny due to revelations over phone hacking, saw a rise of 3.22% to 3,018,187. It’s down 6.65%for the six months January to June year-on-year.

The Observer saw a rise of 1.1% to 409,970 and The Sunday Times jumped 1.33% to 1,210,352.