IRS Q1 2011: Top 10 Language Dailies

6 out of top 10 language dailies start the year on a positive note; no change in order according to the AIR.

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | June 17, 2011

Unlike the last quarter of 2010, the first quarter of IRS 2011 is giving the most of top language publications a reason to smile. While there is no change in the positions of the top 10 language dailies, Daily Thanthi, Mathrubhumi, Gujarat Samachar and Dinakaran have registered considerable growth at the start of the new year.

India's largest read language daily Malayalam newspaper 'Malayala Manorama' has maintained its leadership and maintained the status quo by adding just 8,000 readers this quarter. The newspaper has recorded an AIR of 99.38 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 as compared to 99.30 lakh in the previous quarter. Malayala Manorama had lost 10,000 readers in Q4 2010 but added 86,000 readers in Q3 2010 and 2.6 lakh readers in Q2 2010.

The largest read Marathi daily 'Lokmat' remains the second largest read language daily in the country, though it has lost less than 3% readers according to the AIR data released for IRS Q1 2011. After a continuous growth in IRS Q2 2010 and Q3 2010, Lokmat has seen a slight decline in Q4 2010 also. Lokmat had added 4.07 lakh readers in Q3 while it added added 41,000 readers in Q2 of IRS 2010. Its current AIR stands at 74.86 lakh as compared to 77.12 lakh in previous quarter.

No. 3 language daily of the country Tamil newspaper 'Daily Thanthi' has seen some recovery in this quarter after losing in last two consecutive rounds. The paper has added 1.73 lakh readers IRS Q1 2011. Daily Thanthi had lost 2.31 lakh readers in IRS Q4 2010, and 1.57 lakh readers in Q3 2010. Its current AIR now stands at 71.87 lakh as compared to 70.14 lakh in the previous quarter.

Another Malayalam daily 'Mathrubhumi' has strengthened its position at No.4 by adding 1.63 lakh readers in this quarter. The daily had lost 41,000 readers in IRS Q4 2010 but added 1.12 lakh readers in IRS Q3 2010. According to the AIR data released for the first quarter of IRS 2011, it has recorded readership of 68 lakh as compared to 66.37 lakh in the last survey.

The decline in the average issue readership of Bangla daily 'Anand Bazar Patrika' continues this quarter also. The daily has lost 54,000 readers in Q1 2011 while it had lost 1.05 lakh readers in IRS Q4 2010 and 2.62 lakh readers in IRS Q3 2010. Its current AIR now stands at 61.18 lakh as compared to 61.72 lakh in previous quarter.

ABP is closely followed by Telugu daily 'Eenadu' in readership numbers as well as declining trend but the loss for Eenadu is limited to just two quarters. India's No.6 language daily has lost 50,000 readers in this quarter. It had lost 1.20 lakh readers in the fourth quarter of IRS 2010, but added 7000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2010. Eenadu has recorded an AIR of 59.91 lakh as compared to 60.41 lakh in previous quarter.

At No. 7 is Gujarati daily 'Gujarat Samachar' which has recovered completely from the last quarter's loss. The newspaper has added 99,000 readers in IRS Q1 2011 while it had lost 72,000 readers in IRS Q4 2010. The daily had added 31,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2010. 'Gujrat Samachar' has recorded AIR of 52.76 lakh in the current survey as compared to 51.77 lakh in IRS Q4 2010.

8^th largest read newspaper of the country Tamil daily 'Dinakaran' has again registered a robust growth in this quarter. The daily has added 1.46 lakh readers in IRS Q1 2011 over the last quarter. It had added 1.16 lakh readers in IRS Q4 2010 but lost 1.80 lakh readers in the third quarter of IRS Q3 2010. Dinakarn has recorded an AIR of 51.23 lakh in IRS Q1 2011 as compared to 49.77 lakh in the previous quarter.

Telugu daily 'Sakshi' holds the 9^th position firmly by maintaining its growth rate. The newspaper has added another 88,000 readers in the first quarter of IRS 2011. It had added 1.38 lakh readers in IRS Q4 2010 and 1.78 lakh readers in IRS Q3 2010. Sakshi has current AIR of 50.42 lakh in Q1 2011 as compared to 49.54 lakh in the previous quarter.

At No.10 is Marathi daily 'Daily Sakal' which has seen some decline in its Average Issue Readership in the first quarter of IRS 2011. The daily has lost 84,000 readers in this quarter while it had added 13,000 readres in Q4 2010. The newspaper had added 4.37 lakh readers in Q3, 1.1 lakh readers in Q2. Its current AIR stands at 45.68 lakh as compared to 46.52 lakh in the previous quarter.

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