IRS Q2 2011: Top 10 Hindi Dailies

Top 4 Hindi dailies- Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan and Amar Ujala add readers; 7 out of top 10 dailies grow

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | September 30, 2011

IRS Q2 2011 data has brought much cheer for most of the top Hindi newspapers where 7 out of top 10 dailies have added more readers in this quarter. Among top 5 dailies, only Rajasthan Patrika has lost heavily.

Nation's largest reader Hindi daily 'Dainik Jagran' has strengthened its position by adding 4.83 lakh readers in the 2^nd quarter of IRS 2011. Its current AIR in IRS Q2 2011 stands at 1,63,93,000 as compared to 1,59,10,000 in the previous quarter. The daily had lost 1% readers in IRS Q1 2011 while it had added 1,16,000 readers in IRS Q4 2010 and 25,000 readers in IRS Q3 2010. The daily had lost 4 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2010. Jagran had an AIR of 1,63,13,000 in IRS Q1 2010.

At second spot, 'Dainik Bhaskar' has also added 1,58,000 readers in the second quarter of IRS 2011. Its AIR now stands at 1,41,74,000 as compared to 1,40,16,000 in IRS Q1 2011. Bhaskar had added 25,000 readers to its AIR in IRS Q1 2011 and 5,04,000 readers in Q4 2010. Dainik Bhasker Group's flagship publication had maintained the status quo in Q3 while it added 4.5 lakh readers in Q2 of IRS 2010.

Hindi daily 'Hindustan' is continuously strengthening its position as No.3 newspaper of the country on quarter on quarter basis, though the growth rate is at constant decline. Hindustan has added 1.75 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2011 while it had added 3.58 lakh readers in IRS Q1 2011 and 6.13 lakh readers in the last quarter of IRS 2010. The Hindi daily from Hindustan Media Ventures had added 6.96 lakh readers in IRS Q3 2010, 2 lakh in Q2 2010 and 5.78 lakh readers in IRS Q1 2010. Hindustan's current AIR stands at 1,19,85,000 as compared to 1,18,10,000 in the previous quarter.

The fourth largest Hindi daily of the country 'Amar Ujala' is also on the growth path from past few quarters of IRS. The daily has added 1.44 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2011 to take its AIR at 88.91 lakh as compared to 87.47 lakh readers in IRS Q1 2011. The daily had added 1.07 lakh readers in IRS Q1 2011 while it had added 57,000 readers in the fourth quarter of IRS 2010.

Hindi daily 'Rajasthan Patrika' has lost its readers for the third consecutive quarters according to the AIR data released for IRS Q2 2011. The daily has lost 92,000 readers in this quarter while it had lost 51,000 readers in the Q4 of IRS 2010. Rajasthan Patrika had added 3.17 lakh readers in the third quarter of 2010 and 2.15 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2010. Its current AIR stands at 69.41 lakh as compared to 70.33 in IRS Q1, 2011.

India's 6th largest read Hindi daily 'Punjab Kesri' too has registered decline in the second consecutive quarter. By losing 65,000 readers, its current AIR stands at 34.14 lakh as compared to 34.79 lakh in the previous quarter. The daily had lost 80,000 readers in the first quarter of IRS 2011, added 60,000 readers in IRS Q4 2010, lost 62,000 readers in IRS Q3 2010. Punjab Kesri had added 35,000 readers in IRS Q2 2010 and 1 lakh readers in the first quarter.

From last 3 quarters, the No.7 Hindi daily 'Navbharat Times' is on growth path. The daily has added 61,000 readers in its AIR in IRS Q2 2011. Its AIR now stands at 26,50,000 as compared to 25,89,000 in IRS Q1 2011. NBT had added 10,000 readers in IRS Q1 2011 and 47,000 readers in Q4 2010.

According to the average issue readership in second quarter of IRS 2011, Jharkhand's leading Hindi daily 'Prabhat Khabar' has strengthened its position as 8th largest read daily in the country. After adding 2,14,000 readers in IRS Q4 2010 and 1,33,000 readers in Q1 2011, Prabhat Khabar has added 81,000 readers in Q2 to take its AIR to 18,93,000 as compared to 18,12,000 in the previous quarter. The daily had acquired the 8^th spot in IRS Q4 2010.

After a consistent growth, 'Nai Dunia' has stopped a bit in this quarter and registered a slight decline. Nai Dunia has registered AIR of 17.14 lakh in IRS Q2 2011 as compared to 17.62 lakh in previous quarter.

At No.10 is “Hari Bhoomi” with an AIR of 14,37,000 in IRS Q2 2011 as compared to 14,37,000 in the previous quarter.

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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.

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