IRS Q1 2012: Top 10 Language magazines

Seven of the top 10 language magazines witness decline. Only three Bengali magazines – Karmakshetra, Karmasangsthaan and Saptahik Bartaman – have been able to add readers

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | June 25, 2012

The language magazines have continued the trend of their last round's performance in the first quarter results for IRS 2012 as seven out of the top 10 magazines again witnessed decline in their readership. Only three Bengali magazines – Karmakshetra, Karmasangsthaan and Saptahik Bartaman – have been able to add a few readers in IRS Q1 2012.

Malayalam fortnightly magazine Vanitha has registered decline in its readership again. After losing 74,000 readers in the previous quarter, it has lost a further 72,000 readers. Its current AIR stands at 24.44 lakh compared with 25.16 lakh in the previous quarter and 25.9 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

Malayala Manorama has also seen a decline; however, the magazine has narrowed its loss in the first quarter of IRS Q1 2012. It has recorded an AIR of 11.63 lakh compared with 12.06 lakh in the previous quarter. The Malayalam weekly had lost 1.01 lakh readers in the previous quarter over an AIR of 13.07 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

Bengali weekly Karmakshetra has been growing and it has recorded an AIR of 11.42 lakh over 10.9 lakh in the previous round. The Bengali weekly had 10.47 lakh readers in IRS Q3 2011.

Another Bengali weekly, Karmasangsthaan, has dislodged Kumudam to take the No. 4 position. After adding 52,000 readers in the last round, it has added 27,000 readers in IRS Q1 2012 also. The magazine has a current AIR of 9.34 lakh compared with 9.07 lakh in the previous quarter and 8.55 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

Continuous losses have pushed Kumudam one position down to No. 5. After losing 54,000 readers in the last round, it has further lost 92,000 readers in IRS Q1 2012. The Tamil weekly has current AIR of 8.84 lakh compared with 9.76 lakh in the previous quarter and 10.30 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

Malayalam health magazine Mathrubhumi Arogya Masika has also been on a declining trend. By losing 62,000 readers in IRS Q1 2012, the monthly has recorded an AIR of 8.26 lakh compared with 8.92 lakh in the previous round and 9.59 lakh in IRS Q3 2011. It had lost 67,000 readers in the previous round of survey.

At No. 6 is Malayalam weekly Balarama and, like other Malayalam magazines, it is also losing readership. It has lost 17,000 readers in IRS Q1 2012 to record an AIR of 7.87 lakh compared with 8.07 lakh in the previous quarter and 8.51 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

Mathrubhumi Group's other Malayalam weekly, Mathrubhumi  Thozhil Vartha, is at No. 7 with an AIR of 7.35 lakh compared with 7.58 lakh in the previous quarter and 8.29 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

The third Bengali magazine in the top 10 club, Saptahik Bartaman, has continued its growth momentum and dislodged Anand Vikatan to claim the No. 8 position. It has recorded an AIR of 7.34 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 compared with 7.20 lakh in the previous quarter and 6.67 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

A huge loss of 1.04 readers in two quarters has brought Anand Vikatan down to No. 10. The Tamil weekly has current readership of 6.77 lakh compared with 7.28 lakh in the previous quarter and 7.81 lakh in IRS Q3 2011.

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Average Issue Readership (AIR) of a publication is defined as the number of readers of that publication who have claimed to have last read it within its periodicity, i.e., last read a daily yesterday, a weekly within the last week, a monthly within the last month, etc.

This measure is considered to be a more relevant measure of 'real' or 'regular' readership, especially for newspapers, most of which have been read / 'consumed' as a matter of daily habit. Conventionally, media planners even calculate and compare cost-benefits of dailies based on the AIR figure. Hence, it is perhaps the most relevant to study readership trends as well in terms of AIR.

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