Total national press circulations were boosted during June by a news hungry public searching out the latest on the Brexit vote. June’s total figure increased to over 8.1 million copies a day. The Brexit debate, the vote and the political manouevres that followed generated genuine interest and sales. But the early summer boost has faltered and the most recent September figures have seen circulations fall back again. The gains have been wiped out.
September 2016 Circulations are just released.
Total newspaper circulations still stand at an impressive 7.9 million copies on a weekday and over 6 million on a Sunday for September though. So for response advertisers and mail order brands they offer a cost effective and responsive option.
In June the quality nationals saw major gains. The Guardian added an extra 6,000 copies to its circulation, The Times was up 2.5% month on month and an impressive 15.3% year on year to almost 450,000 copies.
In the popular sector the Brexit leaning Sun was up almost 40,000 copies and the Star 5,000. Surprisingly The Mirror readers didn’t show so much interest, with a drop of 8,000.
All the mid-market titles showed marginal gains – Mail up 4,000, Express 6,000 and Metro 2,500.
The most recent September circulations have just been published and have unfortunately wiped out the June gains with circulations down for all titles against the June figures.
The nationals still have substantial reach of course – almost 8 million copies a day. They remain a key channel for off the page and direct advertisers. They generate response, reach a broad audience and are of course, quick and cost efficient. For mail order and increasingly, e-commerce brands, they are an ideal medium for generating response and building a buyers database. And response positions in the nationals can be surprisingly affordable too.