IRS Q3 2011: HT Mumbai strengthens No. 2 position; HT Delhi continues as No. 1

In Delhi market, HT has remained the most-read newspaper for the seventh time in a row. HT's readership in Delhi NCR is now 22.21 lakh

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | December 23, 2011

As per the latest round (Q3 2011) of the Indian Readership Survey, Hindustan Times continues to grow its readership, adding 2.16 lakh daily readers nationally – the highest by any English newspaper – compared with last year (Q3 2010).

In Mumbai, HT emerged as the fastest growing English daily once again and the only one to have grown in 12 out of the last 13 IRS rounds. HT grew by 27 per cent to a daily readership of 7.51 lakh during the last year, consolidating its position as the No. 2 broadsheet English daily, while the readership for The Times of India declined by 2 per cent in the same period. In the last round too, HT's readership grew by 35,000 while TOI's readership declined by 53,000. With this, HT Mumbai now reaches more than 5 lakh exclusive readers who are not reached by TOI.

In Delhi, HT continues to strengthen further, remaining the most-read newspaper for the seventh time in a row. HT's readership in Delhi NCR is now 22.21 lakh (average issue readership), which reflects an increase of 85,000 over the year-ago period (Q3 2010), compared to 16,000 for The Times of India. Hindustan Times also reaffirmed its position as the undisputed choice for the premium and affluent readers in the territory by leading The Times of India by nearly 1.7 lakh premium SEC A readers.

Hindustan strengthens No. 2 position: HT's sister publication, Hindi daily Hindustan, has consolidated its gains and has further strengthened its No. 2 position among leading newspapers in the country. The total readership figure for the newspaper now stands at 37.5 million, which represents an addition of 44 lakh readers in the past year (over IRS Q3 2010). Its daily AIR has reached 12 million.

This growth is primarily a result of rapid expansion of the brand in Uttar Pradesh, with six new editions launched over the last three years. Hindustan has reached a daily readership figure of 39 lakh in UP alone, with a growth of 22 per cent in the last one year.

In Bihar, Hindustan has further consolidated its dominant position and its readership share in the state is now a dominant 75 per cent. In Jharkhand, with 50 per cent share of readership, Hindustan is again the undisputed leader in the state, despite having a new entrant in the market. In Delhi NCR, Hindustan continues to remain a strong No. 2 with an AIR of nearly 13 lakh readers.

Hindustan is published by Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of HT Media Ltd.

Mint consolidates No. 2 position & premium readers: HT Media's business newspaper, Mint, has consolidated its No. 2 position as per IRS Q3 2011. It grew by 41 per cent over the last year to 2.53 lakh daily readers.

Mint has continued to build its readership in Mumbai, while holding on to Delhi NCR as a stronghold. It also continues to have the best reader profile among business dailies, both in terms of metro skew (95 per cent from top Metros) as well as SEC A proportion (70 per cent SEC A).

Commenting on the results of all HT Media publications, Rajiv Verma, CEO of HT Media, said, “HT, Hindustan and Mint have all had good results, strengthening and consolidating their positions in their respective markets. As a group, we are going to continue our investments going forward in order to drive readership further in all these markets."

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