IRS Q1 2011: English Dailies in Delhi/NCR

Hindustan Times increases the lead margin over The Times of India; a complete analysis for parts of Delhi.

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | June 20, 2011

The first quarter of Indian Readership Survey in 2011 has been good for all top 5 English dailies in Delhi; however The Times of India has lost mere 5,000 readers. While consistent growth has helped Hindustan Times increase its lead margin over TOI, Mail Today and The Hindu have shown slight growth.

Delhi's largest read daily 'Hindustan Times' has strengthened its leadership position by registering a growth of 1.8% in the first quarter of IRS 2011 over the last quarter. HT has recorded an AIR of 19.54 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 as compared to 19.2 lakh in the previous quarter and 20.12 lakh in IRS Q1 2010.

Riding on its aggressive plans for NCR, HT has registered an exceptional growth of 13.5% in Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon. In NCR, HT has an AIR of 3.03 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 as compared to 2.67 lakh in previous quarter. Combining Delhi and NCR, HT has recorded an AIR of 22.57 lakh which is 3.2% up from 21.87 lakh in previous quarter and 97,000 more than its nearest competitor The Times of India.

The Average Issue Readership of Hindustan Times has seen growth in North and West Delhi while the current survey has not been good for HT in South and East Delhi. In IRS Q1 2011, HT has recorded an AIR of 4.52 lakh in North Delhi (4.2 lakh in Q4 2010), 6.24 lakh in South Delhi (6.38 lakh in Q4 2010), 3.5 lakh in East Delhi (3.72 lakh in Q4 2010) and 5.28 lakh in West Delhi (4.9 lakh in Q4 2010). While HT continues ruling in South Delhi, it has replaced Navabharat Times to become largest read daily in West Delhi.

Hindustan Times is closely followed by 'The Times of India' in Delhi; however HT has been able to increase the lead margin this quarter. Nation's No.1 English daily TOI has recorded an AIR of 18.9 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 as compared to 18.95 lakh in the previous quarter and 19.48 lakh in IRS Q1 2010. TOI has lost 5,000 readers in NCR also in the current survey and recorded an AIR of 2.7 lakh as compared to 2.75 lakh in the previous quarter. In Delhi and NCR, the daily has recorded an AIR of 21.60 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 as compared to 21.70 in the previous quarter.

In IRS Q1 2011, TOI has recorded an AIR of 4.14 lakh in North Delhi (3.9 lakh in Q4 2010), 5.73 lakh in South Delhi (5.9 lakh in Q4 2010), 4.5 lakh in East Delhi (4.38 lakh in Q4 2010) and 4.52 lakh in West Delhi (4.77 lakh in Q4 2010). Considering all the parts of Delhi and NCR separately, The Times of India remains ahead of Hindustan Times only in East Delhi while HT rules rest of Delhi and NCR.

Delhi's 3^rd largest read compact English daily 'Mail Today' has added 14,000 readers in the current IRS. Mail Today enjoys an AIR of 2.22 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 as compared to 2.08 lakh in IRS Q4 2010 and 1.87 lakh in IRS Q1 2010. Thus the daily has grown by 20% over the past one year.

In IRS Q1 2011, Mail Today has recorded an AIR of 55,000 in North Delhi (51,000 in Q4 2010), 62,000 in South Delhi (62,000 in Q4 2010), 36,000 in East Delhi (32,000 in Q4 2010) and 69,000 in West Delhi (63,000 in Q4 2010).

At No.4 is Business daily 'Economic Times' which has retained its readership in the first quarter of IRS 2011. ET has recorded an AIR of 1.85 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 similar to previous quarter. The Business daily from The Times Group has lost 5,000 readers over the year. Collectively in Delhi & NCR, ET has Average Issue Readership of 2.21 lakh in current survey as compared to 2.17 lakh in last quarter.

In IRS Q1 2011, Economic Times has recorded an AIR of 55,000 in North Delhi (52,000 in Q4 2010), 55,000 in South Delhi (53,000 in Q4 2010), 36,000 in East Delhi (40,000 in Q4 2010) and 40,000 in West Delhi (41,000 in Q4 2010). In NCR, ET's readership has grown up to 37,000 in IRS Q1 2011 from 31,000 in IRS Q4 2010.

At last position, The Hindu has also registered a marginal increase in its AIR in IRS Q1 2011 over the previous quarter. Its current AIR now stands at 1.15 lakh in the capital as compared to 1.12 lakh. Combining the readership in Delhi and NCR, The Hindu has 1.25 lakh readers as compared to 1.22 lakh in previous quarter.

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