IRS Q4 2010: Top 10 English Dailies

The Times of India and Hindustan Times maintain growth in the fourth quarter of IRS 2010.

Rajat Arora | Delhi | March 14, 2011

The fourth quarter of Indian Readership Survey has been good for English dailies where 6 out of top 10 English newspapers in the country have registered growth while the loss for the rest 4 dailies have been marginal according to the average issue readership (AIR) data.

'The Times of India' continues to be the largest read English daily of the country while maintaining its growth. The results released for the IRS Q4 2010 show that TOI has gained 1,70,000 readers to take its AIR at 74.24 lakh as compared to 72.54 lakh in IRS Q3 2010. The No.1 English daily had added 1.66 lakh readers in the third quarter and 53,000 in Q2 2010. Thus The Times of India has added 3.89 lakh readers over the year.

Also, the No.2 English daily 'Hindustan Times' has also maintained the growth momentum by adding 75,000 readers in the last quarter of IRS 2010. It has registered the AIR of 35.92 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 35.17 lakh in IRS Q3 2010. HT had added 64,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2010 while it had lost 14,000 readers in Q2 2010. Overall, the second largest read English daily has added 1.25 lakh readers over 34.67 readers in IRS Q1 2010.

The No.3 English daily of the country 'The Hindu' has seen a slight growth in its readership this quarter. Its current AIR stands at 21.15 lakh as compared to 21.05 lakh in the previous quarter. The Hindu had an AIR of 21.85 lakh in Q2 while it had recorded an AIR of 21.59 lakh in Q1 2010. The newspaper has lost 54,000 readers in 2010.

'The Telegraph' stands firm at No. 4 position by adding 41,000 readers in its AIR in IRS Q4 2010. Its AIR now stands at 12.38 lakh as compared to 11.97 lakh in the previous quarter. The daily had lost 14,000 readers in Q3 and added 7,000 readers in Q2 of IRS 2010. The Telegraph had recorded 12.11 lakh in Q2 and 12.04 lakh in IRS Q1 2010. The newspaper has added 34,000 readers over the year.

At No.5 is 'Deccan Chronicle' which has registered a marginal decline of mere 5,000 readers in the fourth quarter of IRS 2010. Its current AIR stands at 10.73 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 10.78 lakh in last survey results. The daily had lost 74,000 readers in Q3 but added 28,000 readers in Q2 of IRS 2010.  It had an AIR of 11.52 lakh in Q2 and 11.24 lakh in Q1 2010. Thus, Deccan Chronicle has lost 51,000 readers over the year 2010.

'The Economic Times' has retained its 6^th spot acquired in the previous survey from DNA. The daily maintained the status quo in its readership also and recorded and AIR of 7.97 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 7.98 lakh IRS Q3 2010.

The No.7 English daily DNA seen a marginal decline in Q4 2010 while it is yet to recover its loss in Q3. In IRS Q2 2010, the daily had added 1.19 lakh readers to become the No.6 English daily of the country. Now its current AIR stands at 7.5 lakh as compared to 7. 86 lakh in IRS Q3 2010.

'Mumbai Mirror' too has lost some readers in this quarter to remain at No.8 position. By losing 45,000 readers, its current AIR now stands at 7.11 lakh as compared to 7.56 lakh in last quarter. The daily had lost 30,000 readers in third quarter also.

'The Tribune' has strengthen its position at No.9 with a growth of 27,000 readers in this quarter. Its current AIR stands at 6.21 lakh as compared to 5.94 lakh in IRS Q3 2010.

'The New Indian Express' consolidates at 10^th spot by adding 23,000 readers in the current survey. It has registered 5.29 lakh of AIR in IRS Q4 2010 as compared to 5.06 lakh in last quarter. The Chennai based newspaper had lost 12,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2010.

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About methodology

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.

Rajat.Arora@BestMediaInfo.com

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