IRS Q4 2011: Top 10 Hindi dailies

Dainik Jagran remains No. 1 and Dainik Bhaskar at No. 2. Patrika, which made an entry to the top 10 list last quarter, has surged past Nai Dunia to acquire the No. 9 position

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | March 5, 2012

The fourth quarter results of IRS 2011 indicate that six out of top 10 Hindi dailies have registered growth this quarter. There is also a change in the pecking order with Patrika surpassing Nai Dunia to acquire the No. 9 position.

India's No. 1 Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran, has recorded an AIR of 1,64,10,000 in IRS Q4 2011 compared with 1,64,58,000 in the previous quarter and 1,63,93,000 in IRS Q2 2011. The daily had added 65,000 readers in IRS Q3 2011 and 4.83 lakh readers in Q2 of IRS 2011.

At No. 2, Dainik Bhaskar has lost 2.74 lakh readers in the fourth quarter of IRS 2011. The decline of 1.9 per cent comes after an exceptional growth in its AIR in Q3 of IRS 2011. The daily had added 7.02 lakh readers in Q3 and 1.58 lakh readers in Q2 of IRS 2011. Its AIR now stands at 1,46,02,000 against 1,48,76,000 in the previous quarter and 1,41,74,000 in Q2 IRS 2011. Bhaskar had added 25,000 readers to its AIR in IRS Q1 2011.

The third most read Hindi daily, Hindustan, has held its position and seen a marginal growth of 12,000 readers this quarter. Its AIR stands at 1,20,45,000 in IRS Q4 2011 against 1,20,33,000 in the previous quarter and 1,19,85,000 in IRS Q2 2011. Hindustan had added 48,000 readers in IRS Q3 2011, 1.75 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2011 and 3.58 lakh readers in IRS Q1 2011.

The fourth largest Hindi daily, Amar Ujala, has been able to add a few readers this quarter. The daily has recorded an AIR of 88.42 lakh in IRS Q4 2011 compared with 88.36 in the previous quarter and 88.91 lakh in IRS Q2 2011. It had added 1.44 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2011 and 1.07 lakh readers in IRS Q1 2011.

At No. 5, Rajasthan Patrika's losses have continued into this quarter. The daily has lost 71,000 readers recording an AIR of 68.47 lakh against 69.18 lakh in the previous quarter and 69.41 lakh in IRS Q2 2011. It had lost 23,000 readers in IRS Q3 2011 and 92,000 readers in IRS Q2 2011.

The No. 6 Hindi daily, Punjab Kesri, has been able to hold its readers and added 4,000 readers this quarter over the previous quarter. The daily has been on a decline for the last three quarters. Its current AIR stands at 33.3 lakh against 33.26 in the previous quarter and 34.14 lakh in IRS Q2 2011. It had lost 88,000 readers in the previous quarter, 65,000 in the second quarter and 80,000 readers in the first quarter of IRS 2011.

Navbharat Times has again lost a few readers this quarter after losing 69,000 readers in the previous quarter. Its AIR now stands at 25.73 lakh against 25.81 lakh in the previous quarter and 26.5 lakh in IRS Q2 2011. NBT had added 61,000 readers in its AIR in IRS Q2 2011 and 10,000 readers in IRS Q1 2011.

Jharkhand's leading Hindi daily, Prabhat Khabar, has grown steadily quarter-on-quarter. The daily has added 1.24 lakh readers in IRS Q4 2011 to take its AIR at 21.87 lakh compared with 20.63 lakh in the previous quarter and 18.93 lakh in IRS Q 2011. It had added 1.7 lakh readers in IRS Q3 2011, 81,000 readers in Q2 2011 and 1,33,000 readers in Q1 2011.

After making an entry at No. 10 in the last quarter, Patrika has climbed up to No. 9 position. The daily has recorded a growth of 25 per cent and an AIR of 17.87 lakh in IRS Q4 2011 compared with 14.3 lakh in the previous quarter and 12.51 lakh readers in IRS Q2 2011.

Despite of a marginal growth, Nai Dunia has been pushed to No. 10 in IRS Q4 2011. The newspaper has registered an AIR of 16.49 lakh in IRS Q4 2011 compared with 16.30 in the previous quarter and 17.14 lakh in IRS Q2 2011.

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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 a matter of daily habit. Conventionally, media planners even calculate and compare cost-benefits of dailies based on the AIR figure. Hence, it is perhaps the most relevant to study readership trends as well in terms of AIR.

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