Scottish Sun within couple of thousand copies of rival

IN May, the gap was to within 13,000; now, it is down to less than 2,000. The Daily Record’s mantle as Scotland’s biggest-selling daily newspaper came under serious pressure during June, according to sales figures just released by circulation auditors, ABC.

At an average net circulation of 395,140, the Record is just ahead of its rival, the Scottish edition of The Sun, which registered a mark of 393,337 – helped not least by its now well-established cover price of 10p.

Until a couple of weeks ago, the Record’s retort – as far as price was concerned – was to offer itself for 15p, in return for a voucher from the previous day’s edition. Now, it is 20p with a voucher.

The other circulation figures for last month read: Daily Express 81,923, Scottish Daily Mirror 39,252, Daily Star – Sunday 29,395, Daily Star 89,149, Financial Times 5368, Independent on Sunday 10,258, News of the World 310,640, Scotland on Sunday 67,571, Sunday Express 52,346, Sunday Herald 52,346, Sunday Mail 478,397, Sunday Mirror 31,282, Scottish Daily Mail 122,733, Daily Telegraph 24,240, Guardian 16,132, The Herald 70,989, The Independent 11,374, Mail on Sunday 123,888, Observer 22,649, People 27,818, Scotsman 59,307, Sun 393,337, Sunday Telegraph 20,276, Sunday Times 73,285, and Times 28,381.