Sales gap between two top-selling dailies back to over 40,000

THE circulation gap between the two biggest-selling dailly newspapers in Scotland has returned to being in excess of 40,000, after last month dipping below the figure for the first time in six months.

Say the January ABCs, the gap – as measured by Average Net Circulation – between sales in Scotland of The Sun and the Daily Record was 46,657. In December, it was 36,998; in November, it was 48,526; and in October, it was 41,422.

In January, The Scottish Sun’s average daily sale in Scotland was 340,666 (compared with 314,8976 in December), as opposed to the Record’s 294,009 (compared to 277,899 in December).

Meanwhile, the average sale in Scotland for the country’s biggest-selling newspaper, the Sunday Mail, was 352,232. In December, it was 338,508; in November, it was 350,883; and in October, it was 354,396.

Average Net Circulation figures include free give-aways. The figures were released at midday.

In the pecking order, Scotland on Sunday switched places with The Herald from last month, as did the Sunday Herald with The Scotsman. During its first two weeks, from the ninth of last month, the Sunday Herald – now a single, section, magazine-style newspaper – enjoyed a sales uplift due to (1) the novelty of the new look and (2) a giveaway CD. A January average of 42,924 includes 47,700 for week one and about the same for week two.

Figures for the Scottish Daily Mail and the Scottish Mail on Sunday were issued late on Friday and then incorrectly, so they have yet to be included.

The other circulation figures read:

Scottish News of the World 259,046 (compared to 245,268 for December), Sunday Post 222,868 (compared to 215,387), Scottish Daily Mail n/a (105,193), Scottish Mail on Sunday n/a (98,312), Daily Star of Scotland 70,603 (66,803), Scottish Daily Express 68,303 (65,768), Sunday Times Scotland 58,813 (56,884), Scotland on Sunday 53,808 (45,996), The Herald 51,935 (51,286), Sunday Herald 42,924 (39,687), The Scotsman 42,431 (40,650), Scottish Sunday Express 34,956 (35,154), Daily Star of Scotland – Sunday 25,694 (25,625), Scottish Daily Mirror 24,197 (22,837), Scottish Sunday Mirror 23,172 (22,640), The Times 20,906 (20,321), Daily Telegraph 20,816 (18,88s), The Observer 18,290 (16,952), Sunday Telegraph 17,545 (16,864), The Guardian 14,135 (12,921), People 13,166 (12,264), The Independent 7769 (7765), Independent on Sunday 6077 (6123), and Financial Times 3925 (3641).

To follow, year-on-year changes….