MRUC releases IRS data for Hindustan Times, Hindustan

Two weeks after the release of IRS 2019 Q1, MRUC has released the readership figures of Hindustan Times and Hindi Hindustan.

According to a report published in Hindustan Times today, the English daily has consolidated its position as the most read newspaper across Delhi-NCR and Mumbai combined. The newspaper has a combined daily readership of 2.72 million in the two cities.

Published by HT Media Ltd, HT has grown readership in all major markets while retaining its spot as the second most read English newspaper in the country, with 3.39 million readers.

It continues to be the undisputed No. 1 newspaper for the 16th time in a row in Delhi and the National Capital Region with 1.84 million readers against The Times of India’s 1.34 million.

It also has 885,000 readers in Mumbai as compared to the latter’s 1.28 million readers.

The numbers are from the Q1 2019 edition of the Indian Readership Survey, and are based on the Average Issue Readership (AIR). This metric represents the number of people who say they have read a publication within a time period equal to its periodicity. For newspapers, this is daily, and most advertisers consider AIR as regular readership and the best measure of the readership of a publication. For the survey of newspapers, respondents are asked which brand they read the previous day.

In the last round of IRS published in January 2018, HT had 2.43 million readers in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai combined. This year’s numbers are comparable to those from the 2018 edition of the Indian Readership Survey.

HT’s growth in readership in terms of AIR was 9%, faster than the industry’s overall growth of English readership of 6%.

The survey findings bear testimony to the continued faith and trust in print journalism and all HT Media publications — HT, Mint and Hindustan, which have done exceedingly well in all their key markets.

Rajan Bhalla

Talking about the readership survey, Rajan Bhalla, Group Chief Marketing Officer of HT Media Ltd, said, “We are ecstatic about the trust that our readers continue to show in all our publications. We take the responsibility that comes at the back of this trust earnestly and like always, we will continue to deliver unparalleled value for both, our readers and advertisers.”

HT also remains the most read paper in the Punjab region, including Chandigarh, with a readership of 321,000, higher than The Tribune’s 215,000.

Hindi daily Hindustan, published by HT Media Ltd’s subsidiary Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd, continues to be the No 1 newspaper in Bihar and Uttarakhand, and the second most read paper in Uttar Pradesh.

With 54.7 million total readers, Hindustan is the second-largest newspaper in the country, dominating key markets with 16.6 million total readers in Bihar and 28.6 million total readers in Uttar Pradesh.

HT Media’s other English language publication, business newspaper Mint, has consolidated its position as the clear No 2 in the market with an average issue readership of 342,000.

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