Double-digit drops in year-on-year sales for Scottish Sundays

SCOTLAND’S indigenous Sunday titles have not fared too well in the latest circulation audit, covering sales in Scotland during the 12 months between January last year and this, with Scotland on Sunday, the Sunday Herald and The Sunday Post each registering double-digit year-on-year percentage drops.

According to the ABCs, the falls – as measured by Average Net Circulation sales in Scotland – were 14.46 per cent for Scotland on Sunday, 11.99 per cent for the Sunday Herald and 10.47 per cent for the Sunday Post.

While the Independent on Sunday’s year-on-year sales figure in Scotland was down a whopping 23.13 per cent, it was from a low base.

The December 2007 – December 2008 year-on-year percentages saw increases for just The Guardian, The Times and The Sunday Times. Its January 2008 – January 2009 equivalent witnessed another rise for The Sunday Times (this time, 2.1 per cent), but not so The Guardian or Times.

However, there was a rise for The Sunday Telegraph (2.79 per cent).

The year-on-year figures for Scotland’s two biggest-selling daily newspapers were both down: 9.1 per cent for the Scottish Sun and 9.42 per cent for the Daily Record.

The figures read, across the board, as follows:

Daily Mirror (29,185 in January 2009 versus 33,200 in January 2008, down 4,015 or 12.1 per cent), Daily Record (336,244 versus 371,219, down 34,975 or 9.42 per cent), Daily Star (85,227 versus 88,093, down 2,866 or 3.25 per cent), Sun (377,964 versus 415,670, down 37,706 or 9.1 per cent), and Daily Express (72,518 versus 78,316, down 5,798 or 7.4 per cent).

Daily Mail (119,723 versus 125,303, down 5,580 or 4.45 per cent), Daily Telegraph (22,949 versus 23,859, down 910 or 3.8 per cent), Financial Times (5067 versus 5,529, down 462 or 8.36 per cent), The Herald (60,755 versus 67,114, down 6,359 or 9.47 per cent), The Guardian (16,455 versus 17,358, down 903 or 5.2 per cent), and The Independent (9,766 versus 9821, down 55 or 0.56 per cent).

The Scotsman (49,478 versus 54,477, down 4,999 or 9.18 per cent), The Times (28,127 versus 28,274, down 147 or 0.52 per cent ), Daily Star Sunday (28,424 versus 29,797, down 1,373 or 4.6 per cent), News of the World (269,709 versus 300,879, down 31,170 or 10.36 per cent), and Sunday Mail (416,169 versus 459,896, down 43,727 or 9.51 per cent).

Sunday Mirror (26,733 versus 31,208, down 4,475 or 14.33 per cent), The People (18,840 versus 21,157, down 2,317 or 10.95 per cent), Sunday Express (41,672 versus 45,772, down 4,100 or 8.96 per cent), Sunday Post (251,345 versus 280,749, down 29,404 or 10.47 per cent), and Mail on Sunday (107,229 versus 120,697, down 13,468 or 11.16 per cent).

Independent on Sunday (7,800 versus 10,147, down 2347 or 23.13 per cent), The Observer (21,416 versus 21,835, down 419 or 1.92 per cent), Scotland on Sunday (61,311 versus 71,674, down 10,363 or 14.46 per cent) and Sunday Herald (45,229 versus 51,388, down 6,159 or 11.99 per cent).

Sunday Telegraph (21,248 versus 20,672, up 576 or 2.79 per cent) and Sunday Times (69,813 versus 68,375, up 1,438 or 2.1 per cent).