Leading dailies have seen substantial surge in readership over the last two years. Lintas Media Group & e4m analyse what contributed to this growth.
The Agriculture magazine segment, present only in regional languages, has seen an overall decrease in numbers. The segment has lost close to 31,000 readers in the last one year.
While there has been an overall uptrend of 22 per cent in readership of technology magazines over that of 2009 R1, when compared to 2010 Q2, there has been a decline of 13 per cent.
Religious TV channels hit readership of religious magazines. Year-on-year decline in readership stands at 14 per cent (-1.21 lakh).
There has been a 12 per cent fall from 2009 R1 for health publications, a loss of 3.96 lakh in average issue readership (AIR).
Most education or career related magazines have seen a downward trend in overall growth as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Pratiyogita Darpan tops the list with an average issue readership of 21.54 lakh.
Most of the kids’ magazines have seen a downward trend in the latest Indian Readership Survey, losing a total of 9.19 lakh readers over the last two years and 8.80 lakh in the last one year.
Cricket content continues to drive the overall market for sports magazines. However, the genre has lost 2.63 lakh readers in the last two years.
Even as magazines have struggled to regain their readership base over the last two years, there has been a positive growth of 7 per cent for English and Hindi language magazines as compared to last year.
Hello has emerged as the biggest gainer from last year in the women’s lifestyle magazines segment, increasing readership base by 68 per cent, even as ‘Society’, with the highest AIR, retains the top spot in this segment.
As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, the ‘Home Decorations’ category has seen significant growth over 2010 Q2 (1.87 lakh/ 81 per cent gain) and 2009 R1 (3.38 lakh/ 417 per cent gain) in AIR.
The average issue readership (AIR) of the travel magazines genre has gone up by 31 per cent over 2009 R1 and by 12 per cent over 2010 Q2. Bhraman tops the list with an AIR of 2.57 lakh.
As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, general interest magazines have witnessed a decline in readership. While they have registered a 4 per cent de-growth over last year, the drop in average issue readership (AIR) as compared to the IRS 2009 Round 1 figures is around 15 per cent. The only magazine to see a rise in AIR over the two-year period is Mathrubhumi Thozhil Vartha.
The going has not been all that well for film-based magazines as even established English magazines such as ‘Filmfare’ and ‘Stardust’ struggled to retain readers. Publishing exclusive content is the only driver for them. Meanwhile, the genre has also seen stiff competition from new players like ‘People’ and ‘Hello’...
With magazines ‘Auto Car’ and ‘Overdrive’ leading the genre, the AIR of the Auto/Cars segment has grown by 2 per cent over last year, and by 16 per cent over IRS 2009 R1. Entry of international titles like ‘BBC Topgear’ has already started showing positive growth...
Overall, women’s magazines are struggling to retain their readership base. Among languages, regional women’s magazines are losing a higher share of the readership – going from an AIR of 81.83 lakh readers in 2009 R1 to 72.49 lakh in 2010 Q2 to 70.53 Iakh in 2011 Q2 – a decline of 14 per cent over the two-year period.
While the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) results have shown negative trends for special interest periodicals, business magazines, though with low readership base, continue to grow over the years with proliferation in titles and targeted content. Healthy growth is seen across titles, except for Business India and Business & Economy.
Adding almost 2.2 lakh average issue readership (AIR), top six dailies have seen growth restored in the Uttarakhand market as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Meanwhile, four out of the top five periodicals have added more than 1.5 lakh AIR.
It has turned out be a bad year for dailies in Himachal Pradesh as per the IRS 2011 results. While the combined yearly drop in average issue readership (AIR) of the top nine dailies totalled 1.07 lakh, the total increase in AIR trailed close behind at 95,000.
Newspapers in Goa have not witnessed encouraging year-on-year results, with the loss in average issue readership (AIR) exceeding the gain by two-fold. Among the top 10 dailies in the state, while combined y-o-y decline in AIR is 93,000, the overall gain only comes to 28,000.
As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, seven out of top ten dailies in Chandigarh have garnered a total of 1.38 lakh readers over the year and 1.21 lakh readers over the previous quarter.
As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, the AIR of most of the dailies in Assam have shown a decline. Meanwhile, four of the top 10 magazines in the state saw a loss of 1.74 lakh readers over last year.
It has certainly not been a good quarter for dailies in West Bengal. While Ananda Bazar Patrika, the leader in the space, has lost 4.74 lakh over the previous quarter, most of the topline Bengali newspapers have also witnessed decline in AIR. Bartaman and Uttar Banga Sambad are the only two exceptions among the top ten dailies.
Four of the top ten dailies in Maharashtra have seen a decline in AIR over the year as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Among magazines, four of the top ten magazines have added 6.10 lakh readers over last year, while five magazines have lost close to 1.60 lakh readers in the one-year period.
Topline dailies in Rajasthan have seen a growth in average issue readership (AIR) as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, with seven Hindi dailies securing a place among the top 10 in the state. The top five dailies have added an overall 5.34 lakh readers over last year.
Barring Ajit, there has been no growth in the AIR for other Punjabi dailies in Punjab as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Hindi and English dailies, too, have witnessed decline in AIR. Dainik Bhaskar is the only Hindi daily that has grown over the last year.
With top three magazines have seen decline in readership in Jammu and Kashmir, the average issue readership of most periodicals has either declined or was static in the last one year in the state as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results.
Dailies in Gujarat have seen a much more significant year-on-year performance as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Five out of the top ten papers have added 5.14 lakh readers over last year.
The Indian Readership Survey 2011 Q2 results have not brought any cheer for some of the topline dailies in Chhattisgarh. Besides, nearly all top ten periodicals have also faced readers’ apathy as they reported loss of a average issue readership of almost a lakh over last year.
Average issue readership (AIR) of the top ten magazines in Andhra Pradesh have shown mixed results as per the IRS 2011 Q2 data. The Week has seen a three-digit growth over last year. Telugu magazine Swati Sapari Vara Patrika leads the list with an AIR of 4.32 lakh, but has seen a 19 per cent decline over last year.
Mirroring the trend in neighbouring state Bihar, topline dailies in Jharkhand have also witnessed a surge in their average issue readership (AIR) as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. The top three dailies out of the top 10 alone have witnessed an increase of 8.53 lakh readers.
It has been a good year for dailies in Bihar as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, with nine out of ten posting an increase in average issue readership (AIR). The list has an equal mix of Hindi and English dailies. However, Hindi dailies reign in the top four positions.
Most of the top ten dailies in Andhra Pradesh have registered decline in their average issue readership as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results when compared to the same period last year. Largest read Telugu daily Eenadu tops the list, but has recorded a decline of 2 per cent in AIR.
Robust growth has defined the landscape of the print industry in Uttar Pradesh. An AIR of around 25.88 lakh has been added by eight out of the top ten dailies as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Hindi dailies have found favour among readers, seeing a rise of 24.3 lakh in AIR over last year.
Following the same trend as the previous quarter, Malayalam dailies as well as periodicals have made it to the top of the list in Kerala. While most of the year-on-year percentages point downward, some have seen an increase in the number of readers.
With Kannada dailies securing the top five positions, a healthy growth pattern can be seen among the top 20 players in the state with the exception of three players. Vijay Karnataka has held on to the top spot in the state list, displaying the same trend as in Bangalore, with an increase in its AIR of 5 per cent this year.
The results of IRS 2011 Q2 have turned out better for Tamil dailies in the state as compared to the IRS 2011 Q1 results. While all the top 15, barring one, were in the red last quarter, they have received some respite in 2011 Q2.
As per the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2011 Q2 results, it has turned out to be a difficult year for the top ten dailies in Orissa. Most dailies have seen a fall in their average issue readership (AIR) over last year. Even the quarter-on-quarter percentages too don’t look promising.
With the top three Hindi dailies adding nearly 14 lakh readers in a year, most of dailies have witnessed robust growth in average issue readership in Madhya Pradesh as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. English dailies, however, ranked below in the tally, but have also been able to attract readers.
Compared to the corresponding period last year, four out of the top five Hindi dailies have grown in Delhi as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Benefitting the most in the National Capital are Hindi dailies Navbharat Times and NaiDunia, which have added 1.76 lakh and 68,000 readers, respectively, over the year.
Infomedia Yellow Pages leads the list among all other magazines in Kolkata with an average issue readership (AIR) of 3.49 lakh in IRS 2011 Q2, a decline of 30 per cent over the figure of 5 lakh in 2010 Q2.
As per IRS 2011 Q2 results for the Chennai market, the quarter-on-quarter average issue readership (AIR) figures show more promise in the dailies segment as compared to year-on-year numbers. The magazine segment looks bleak with most periodicals showing a decline in AIR over last year.
As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, it has turned out to be a better year for most English and language dailies in Bangalore. While most dailies have registered an increase in AIR over last year, the quarter-on-quarter percentages don’t look too promising. Barring a few, magazines too have fared better over last year.
As per the Indian Readership Survey 2011 Q2 results, topline dailies in English, Telugu and Urdu languages have seen decline in their average issue readership (AIR) in Hyderabad. The trends are not all that encouraging for magazines as well.
Interestingly, most Marathi dailies among the top ten language newspapers in Mumbai have registered decline in AIR as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results when compared to the same period last year. Among language magazines, Marathi weekly Saptahik Sakal lost half of its readers in the one-year period.
It has been mostly a growth story for English language publications – dailies and magazines – in Mumbai as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Among top ten English dailies, Mint and HT have recorded the highest growth in AIR, while among top ten magazines, Outlook has reported a growth percentage in three digits.
The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2011 Q2 results show an overall increase of 2 per cent in the average issue readership of Indian language magazines, taking it up to 34,904,000 this year from 34,070,000 in the corresponding period last year.
Slow growth in average issue readership (AIR) of most of the dailies in Delhi raises a question - has the newspaper market in Delhi reached saturation point? While a clear picture will emerge in the forthcoming quarterly results of the IRS, recent readership trends do raise an alarm bell...
All top six Assamese dailies have seen decline in readership over last year, losing almost 3.36 lakh readers, combined as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. Meanwhile, AIR of Assamese periodicals has also nosedived when compared to last year as well as the previous quarter.
Contrary to the general perception, readership trends are not very promising for all language daily genres. A look at the topline trends of all 11 regional dailies surveyed by the Indian Readership Survey...
All four Urdu dailies surveyed by Hansa Research have seen a decline in their average issue readership (AIR) over the previous quarter as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. However, when compared to last year, Siasat and The Munsif, have been able to add some more readers.
The upcoming State Assembly elections in Punjab may give the much needed fillip to the Punjabi newspaper market, but for now, the Indian Readership Survey 2011 Q2 results have show mostly negative trends for Punjabi dailies.
As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, the Marathi newspaper market has continued to see decline in AIR of most dailies. However, amid decline, the top two dailies – Lokmat and Daily Sakal - have added almost 4.39 lakh readers, combined, in a year.
The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2011 Q2 results paint a grim picture for Bengali dailies. As compared to 2010 Q2 results, Bengali dailies have lost 9.39 lakh readers, a decline of 6.89 per cent.
While all four Oriya dailies have witnessed decline in average issue readership as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, Dharitri is the exception, showing a growth of 10 per cent over last year.
When compared to the previous quarter, the top three Telugu dailies have seen growth in AIR, adding almost 2 lakh readers as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results. However, a comparison to the corresponding period last year is a different story...
The top five Malayalam dailies – Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam and Mangalam – have been able to attract readers over the period of time. However, Malayalam periodicals have seen mixed trends in the IRS 2011 Q2 results.
With most Kannada dailies garnering positive growth, as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, Kannada publications – both dailies and periodicals – have been able to attract more readers.
More players have added to the overall readership of Gujarati dailies. However, as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, it’s a mixed bag for Gujarati publications in comparison to last year as well as 2011 Q1.
India Today, Outlook and The Week have reported positive growth as compared to last quarter. Readers Digest, Femina and Business Today have also been able to attract readers as per the IRS 2011 Q1 results, as compared to the previous quarter.
Dainik Jagran, followed by Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan and Amar Ujala, have witnessed growth in AIR over last year as well as over the previous quarter. The top four dailies have together added 9.6 lakh readers over the previous quarter, and a whopping 36.55 lakh readers over last year.
The top three business dailies – Economic Times, Mint and Business Standard – have witnessed growth in their AIR in IRS 2011 Q2 as compared to the previous quarter as well as over the corresponding period of last year. This reflects the general growth trend seen in business dailies in the latest quarter.
When compared to the corresponding period of 2010, results for the Indian Readership Survey 2011 Q2 reflect grim trends for the English newspaper genre. Bucking this trend are Hindustan Times and The Times of India, with both papers seeing a combined addition of 6.67 lakh readers in a year.
Five out of six topline Tamil dailies have witnessed decline in average issue readership (AIR) as compared to the corresponding period last year. However, when compared to the previous quarter, the trends did give some relief to Tamil dailies as almost all of them witnessed growth in AIR.
As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, eight out of the top ten magazines have witnessed growth in average issue readership (AIR) as compared to the previous quarter. Besides, during same period, the top five magazines have garnered positive growth in AIR, jointly adding 5.31 lakh readers.