IRS Q2 2010: Top 10 Dailies In Karnataka

Rajat Arora | Delhi | August 25, 2010

Most of the top 10 dailies in Karnataka have surged ahead as per the average issue readership (AIR) data released for the second quarter of IRS 2010.

No. 1 Kannada daily 'Vijay Karnataka' has maintained its leadership despite of losing 1.6% readers in the current survey. It has recorded and AIR of 32.68 lakh in IRS Q2 2010 as compared to 33.22 lakh in the previous quarter.

'Prajavani' has strengthened its position at No.2 with 14.5% growth by adding 3.24 lakh readers in the current survey. It has recorded an AIR of 25.65 lakh as compared to 22.41 lakh in last survy findings.

The 3^rd major player in Karnataka, 'Samyukta Karnataka' has also registered a huge growth of 21% in the second quarter of IRS 2010. Its current AIR stands at 9.84 lakh as compared to 8.12 lakh in IRS Q1 2010.

'Kannada Prabha' has gained 15% readers in second quarter of IRS 2010. Now at No.4, it has an AIR of 8.62 lakh as compared to 7.49 lakh in the last survey findings.

'Udayavani' has slipped by one position to come down at 5^th spot by losing 3.1% readers in the state. Its current AIR stands at 7.94 lakh in IRS Q2 2010 as compared to 8.20 lakh in the last quarter.

Like other parts of the country, 'The Times of India' has not performed well in Karnataka but lost just 2,000 readers in the second quarter of IRS 2010. The English daily has recorded and AIR of 4.45 lakh in the current survey.

At No.7, 'Deccan Herald' has strengthened its position by gaining 2.2% readers in the current survey findings. It has recorded an AIR of 3.14 lakh as compared to 3.07 lakh in IRS Q1 2010.

The daily from Belgaum, Maharashtra 'Tarun Bharat' has surged by 24% in the second quarter of IRS 2010. Its current AIR now stands at 2.27 lakh as compared to 1.83 lakh in the last survey.

By gaining 14% readers in Q2, 'Sanjavani' has strengthened its position at No.9 to take its AIR at 2.11 lakh.

At No.10 position in the state is Dainik Bhaskar Group's English daily 'DNA' with 1.17 lakh readers in the current survey findings.

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 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.

Rajat.Arora@BestMediaInfo.com

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