IRS 2012 Q4: Seven of top ten publications lose readership

As per IRS data for Q4 2012, among the top 10 publications, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, The Times of India, Amar Ujala, Lokmat, Daily Thanthi and Mathrubhumi have seen decline in their Average Issue Readership (AIR). On the other hand, Hindustan, Malayala Manorama and Rajasthan Patrika have seen marginal rise in AIR. Dainik Jagran, still sitting at the number one position, has lost more than one lakh readers. In the previous quarter, IRS figure of Dainik Jagran was 16,474,000, which has decreased to 16,370,000. Dainik Bhaskar continues to be in the second spot, but it’s a wake-up call for the publication as it has lost more than 75,000 readers. In the previous quarter, the IRS figure of the publication was 14,491,000, which have come down to 14,416,000. Hindustan retains the number three spot. The daily has witnessed marginal readership growth of 4,000. In the previous quarter, IRS for Hindustan was 12,242,000, which has increased to 12,246,000. Malayala Manorama has grabbed the fourth position among all the publication; it is the only regional daily among the top five. It has added 8,000 readers this quarter. The AIR of Malayala Manorama was 9,752,000 in Q3, which has increased to 9,760,000 in Q4. At fifth position, Amar Ujala has lost more than one lakh reader, with an AIR of 8,536,000 in previous quarter and 8,434,000 in the current quarter. The Times of India is the only English publication in this list. The paper has lost 38,000 readers during the current quarter, taking its AIR from 7,653,000 in Q3 to 7,615,000 in Q4. Daily Thanthi has seen a decline in AIR to 7,334,000 in Q4 from 7,417,000 in the previous quarter. Lokmat has seen the third largest fall in AIR of 96,000 readers during the quarter, taking its AIR down to 7,319,000 in Q4. Rajasthan Patrika is the second Hindi daily which has seen growth in readership, notching an AIR of 6,837,000 in Q4, by adding 19,000 readers. However, it’s decline for Mathrubhumi once again, which has registered an AIR of 6,334,000, losing 81,000 readers during the quarter.

IRS 2012 Q4: It’s bad news for Lokmat, Dinakaran & Daily Thanthi

Saturday,Mar 30, 2013 The entire industry is chanting one slogan ‘Regional is the new national’ but when it comes to IRS results, the picture is different. Six of 10 regional dailies have witnesses decline in readership in IRS 2012 Q4. Also, the four that have seen increase, have only seen marginal growth. Malayala Manorama retains top position, seeing increase of 8,000 AIR in the current quarter. In Q3 AIR of Malayala Manorama was 9,752,000, whereas in Q4 it is 9,760,000. Daily Thanthi, though it managed to retain the second spot in Q4, lost a huge number of readers – 83,000. In the previous quarter, Daily Thanthi has readership of 7,417,000, which came down to 7,334,000 in IRS Q4. Lokmat witnessed the steepest fall – losing 96,000 readers, but still managed to retain third position. The Marathi daily had also lost 98,000 in the previous quarter. The AIR of Lokmat in previous quarter was 7,409,000, which decreased to 7,313,000 in Q4. Mathrubhumi also lost 81,000 readers; its AIR decreased from 6,415,000 in Q3 to 6,334,000 in Q4. On the other hand, it’s a growth story for Eenadu; it has managed to add 15,000 readers, taking its AIR to 5,972,000 in Q4 from 5,957,000 in Q3. Ananda Bazar Patrika has lost 38,000 readers in this quarter, taking its AIR of 5,788,000 in Q3 to 5,750,000 in Q4. In the seventh spot, Sakshi has added a good number of readers in the current quarter. In the last quarter, it had added 37,000 readers, whereas in this quarter it has added 36,000 readers, increasing AIR from 5,343,000 in Q3 to 5,379,000 in Q4. In eight place, Gujarat Samachar has seen decline of 39,000 readers. In the previous quarter, AIR of Gujarat Samachar was 5,153,000, which has declined to 5,114,000 in the current quarter. Though Dinakaran is in ninth position, it has seen decline of 96,000 readers in the current quarter. The AIR was 4,912,000 in Q3, whereas the current AIR is 4,816,000 In last place, Daily Sakal has seen maximum growth in readership, gaining readership of 66,000. Sakal AIR has increased to 4,469,000 in Q4 from 4,403,000 in Q4.

IRS 2012 Q4: Nine out of 10 English magazines lose readership

Publisher worries continue as nine out of 10 English magazine’s Average Issue Readership (AIR) has declined this quarter. The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2012 Q3 data had registered seven English magazines losing readership. Though India Today is sitting at the top in the ranking, the magazine has lost 46,000 readers this quarter. The weekly magazine had recorded an AIR of 1,526,000 in Q3 and after losing readers in current quarter, the AIR of the magazine is 1,480,000. Monthly magazine General Knowledge Today is the second largest magazine to lose readers among the top ten. The monthly had recorded an AIR of 1,047,000 in Q3 but has lost 54,000 readers in this quarter, with AIR of 993,000 in IRS Q4 2012. In the third position, Reader's Digest registered the steepest decline in readership. It has lost 58,000 readers. The AIR of the monthly magazine was 1,016,000 in Q3 but is down to 958,000 in Q4. Competition Success Review lost 33,000 readers this quarter. The monthly had AIR of 703,000 in the previous quarter, whereas after witnessing a huge decline, the current AIR is 670,000 in Q4. Weekly magazine Outlook has lost 23,000 readers. The current AIR of the magazine is 451,000 in comparison of 474,000 in Q3. The only silver lining is for the English magazine industry, though very faint, is that Pratiyogita Darpan has gained 14,000 readers – the only English Magazine to gain readership. It has also climbed to number 6 position this quarter as against to number 8 position in Q3. Its AIR this quarter is 431,000. The Week has lost 10,000 readers in IRS 2012 Q4. It has also slipped down one position i.e. number seven. In the previous quarter, Stardust was at number seven but in IRS Q4, the film magazine lost 14,000 readers and slipped to number eight position. There is no change in the ranking in the last two positions. Business Today sits at number nine, after losing 3,000 readers and Wisdom at number 10, after losing 12,000 readers in the current quarter.