FT continues to outperform market
The Financial Times has once again outperformed the UK’s newspaper market in today’s ABC figures, despite raising its cover price for the second time in seven months in January.
Circulation at the paper, which at £1.50 is now 70 pence more expensive than The Guardian, The Independent and the Daily Telegraph, and more than double the price of the 70 pence Times, saw a slight 0.27 per cent rise to 448,342 while the rest fell an average 2.45 per cent.
It remains the only newspaper to have grown its circulation-average in the last six months, up 1.9 per cent year-on-year to 445,825 copies.
John Ridding, chief executive of the FT, said: "Our robust circulation performance, which underpinned the strong 2007 results that we announced this week, continues. The quality of circulation, which is our priority, also continues to strengthen, with subscriptions accounting for about one-third of our sale."
Elsewhere, declines in the quality morning sector were led by a six per cent fall for The Guardian to 355,634 and a 3.26 per cent drop at The Times. The Daily Telegraph was also down 2.63 per cent to 866,693.
There was a solid 0.72 per cent rise in circulation at The Independent, now at 252,435. The against-the-grain hike builds on the original compact paper’s 3.37 per cent rise in January and will help calm nerves as speculation mounts surrounding a new editor being appointed before the summer.
Circulations at the UK’s red-tops were similarly down 2.44 per cent. The Sun was the biggest faller with a 4.13 per cent slide taking it perilously near the three million mark again at 3,077,060. And this despite an ongoing price promotion in the south east, where it is being sold at just 20p.
The Daily Mirror, meanwhile, saw a slight drop of 0.79 per cent to 1,500,543.
In the mid-market battle, The Daily Mail was unable to hang on to the extra three thousand copies it moved in January, dropping 0.82 per cent to 2,294,880. Similarly, a 2.13 per cent drop at the Daily Express placed circulation at an annual low of 736,634.
In the Sunday papers, The Observer was notably up 4.28 per cent to 464,005 on the back of its popular supplement Book of Food and DVD giveaway of the classic film La Dolce Vita.
The Independent on Sunday managed to maintain most of the 38,000 additional copies it gained in January, losing just 3.59 per cent to record an ABc of 228,012. The Sunday Times was down two per cent to 1,206,247 and The Sunday Telegraph was down less than 500 copies to 633,193.
The Mail on Sunday dropped 5.4 per cent drop to 2,203,642 and The Sunday Express was down four per cent to 676,165.
Arif Durrani is news editor of mad.co.uk.
