IRS Q4 2010: Top 10 Dailies in Uttar Pradesh

Amar Ujala Compact overtakes Aj to become No.4 daily of the state; The Times of India replaces I-Next from 7^th spot.

Rajat Arora | Delhi | March 17, 2011

The largest Hindi speaking state Uttar Pradesh has seen most of the top 10 dailies flourishing in the fourth quarter of IRS 2010. There has been changes in positions of two dailies where Amar Ujala Compact has overtaken Aj to become the fourth largest read daily of the state and The Times of India has replaced I-Next from 7^th spot.

The No.1 daily of Uttar Pradesh 'Dainik Jagran' is firmly holding its fort in its home ground. The newspaper has maintained the status quo in IRS Q4 2010. Its current AIR stands at 89.38 lakh as compared to 89.45 lakh in previous quarter. The daily had added about 1 lakh readers in Q3 while it had lost 2.18 lakh readers in Q2. Overall, Dainik Jagran has seen a marginal decline of 1.4% over the year.

The second largest newspaper in the state 'Amar Ujala' has put up a good show in the fourth quarter and maintained the growth from past 3 quarters. The daily has grown by 4.8% during 2010. Amar Ujala has recorded an AIR of 68.31 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 67.49 lakh in Q3, 65.25 lakh in Q2 and 65.17 lakh in Q1.

At No.3 is Hindi daily 'Hindustan' which has maintained its high growth rate on quarter on quarter basis. Riding on the rapid expansion plans and new edition launches, the daily has seen overall growth of 35.8% during the year. In IRS Q4 2010, Hindustan has gone up by 10.6% to record an AIR of 35.26 lakh as compared to 31.89 lakh in the previous survey. It had added 2.7 lakh readers in Q3 and 3.23 lakh in Q1. From Q1 to Q4, the daily has added 9.3 lakh readers to strengthen its position in the state.

The surprise packet in the fourth quarter of IRS 2010 has been 'Amar Ujala Compact' which has overtaken Aj to become the fourth largest read newspaper in Uttar Pradesh. The compact daily from Amar Ujala has grown by 130% during the year. In Q4 only, the daily has added 2.28 lakh readers to take its AIR at 8.03 lakh as compared to 5.75 lakh in the previous quarter. It had added 1.24 lakh readers in Q3 and 1.02 lakh readers in Q2.

'Aj' has been pushed down at No.5 position by Amar Ujala Compact despite of a good show by the daily throughout the year. The daily has grown by 7% in Q4 and 18% over the year. Its current AIR stands at 7.29 lakh as compared to 6.81 lakh in Q3, 6.37 lakh in Q2 and 6.18 lakh in Q1.

At No.6, Rashtriya Sahara has also put up a good show in its only strong hold area. The newspaper has maintained its growth rate of Q3 in this quarter also. Rashtriya Sahara has an AIR of 6.24 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 5.7 lakh in Q3, 5.24 lakh in Q2 and 5.63 lakh in Q1. Thus the newspaper has seen the overall growth of 10.8% over the year.

Replacing English daily I-Next from 7^th spot in Uttar Pradesh is another English daily 'The Times of India' which has added 7.4% more readers in IRS Q4 2010. Its current AIR stands at 5.55 lakh as compared to 5.17 lakh in Q3, 4.9 lakh in Q2 and 5.14 lakh in Q1. Thus, the largest read English of India has grown by 8% in Uttar Pradesh during 2010.

Dainik Jagran Group's English daily 'I-Next' is continuously losing its readers on quarter on quarter basis. The daily has seen an overall decline by 17.2% during the year. The average issue readership of I-Next has been recorded at 5.12 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 5.58 lakh in Q3, 6.13 lakh in Q2 and 6.18 lakh in Q1.

Published from Agra and Jhansi, the afternoon tabloid “Daily Life Assistance (DLA)” holds the No.9 position in Uttar Pradesh. However the newspaper has continuously losing its ground and seen an overall decline by 19.7% during the year. Its current AIR stands at 4.08 lakh as compared to 4.25 lakh in Q3, 4.39 lakh in Q2 and 5.08 lakh in Q1.

India's No.2 English daily 'Hindustan Times' is at No.10 position in Uttar Pradesh. Supported with the growth of Hindustan, HT has grown by 17% during the year. HT has an AIR of 2.62 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 2.29 lakh in Q3, 2.02 lakh in Q2 and 2.24 lakh in Q1.

Rajat.Arora@BestMediaInfo.com

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