IRS 2010 Q1: Complete Analysis On Hindi Dailies

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | May 5, 2010

The readership of Hindi dailies has gone up in the first three months of 2010 as compared to the second round of IRS 2009. According to the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS) data, top 9 Hindi dailies have registered growth in terms of the average issue readership (AIR).

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 matter of daily habit. Conventionally, media planners even calculate & compare cost-benefits of dailies based on the AIR figure. And hence it is perhaps most relevant to study readership trends as well in terms of AIR.

The first edition of IRS' quarterly data on the Indian print media industry shows that country's No. 1 Hindi daily 'Dainik Jagran' has recorded 1.3% of growth in AIR as compared to IRS R2 2009. Its average issue readership stands at 1.63 crore in current survey which was 1.61 crore in R2 2009. In terms of total readership (TR), Jagran has seen a slight dip of 6 lakh readers and has recorded 5.42 crore readers as against 5.48 crore in last survey.

On the other hand, the No. 2 Hindi daily 'Dainik Bhaskar' has added 4.5 lakh readers which is 3.5% up from its AIR in last survey. Bhaskar has recorded 1.33 crore readers which was at 1.29 crore in R2 2009. Its total readership has also gone up to 3.34 crore in Q1 2010 from 3.29 crore in R2 2009.

Hindi daily 'Hindustan' has consolidated its position as the third largest national daily. The paper's readership has grown by 6% making it the fastest growing Hindi daily. The paper now enjoys the AIR of 99.1 lakh which is 5, 78,000 more than last survey. According to the total readership data also, Hindustan has replaced Amar Ujala from No. 3 position. In the current round, its total readership stands at 2.94 crore which is 15 lakh more than last survey.

'Amar Ujala' remains at No. 4 with 1, 92,000 more readers taking its AIR to 84.91 lakh which is 2.3% more than last survey. In IRS R2 2009, its AIR was 82.99 lakh. The total readership of Amar Ujala has seen a marginal dip of 3 lakh readers. It has recorded the total readership of 2.87 crore in Q1 2010 as compared to 2.9 crore readers in R2 2009.

'Rajasthan Patrika' has maintained its 5th spot with national AIR at 66.85 lakh which was 64.86 lakh in last survey. The daily has also recorded a slight growth of 2.2 lakh in total readership which now stands at 1.42 crore.

Holding the No. 6 position firmly, 'Punjab Kesri' has recorded 2.9% growth in its AIR which has taken its AIR to 35.26 lakh from 34.25 lakh. It has recorded the total readership of 1.05 crores.

'Navbharat Times' has also added 1.06 lakh more readers to remain at No. 7. Its AIR stands at 24.72 lakh which is 4.5% more than 23.66 lakh of last survey.

No. 8 position has been captured by 'Hari Bhoomi'. The paper has recorded 6.1% of growth in its AIR which stands at 13.55 lakh in this survey. It had recorded the AIR of 12.77 lakh in IRS R2 2009.

'Nai Dunia' has strengthened its position to come at No. 9 by registering maximum 7%, i.e. 83,000 growth between January to March 2010. During the quarter, it has recorded 12.7 lakh readers as compared to 11.87 lakh readers in the last survey.

'Prabhat Khabar' is the only Hindi daily in top 10 list which has shown decline in AIR in the current survey. With registering 12.7 lakh readers, the daily has slipped to 10th spot from No. 8 position.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com