IRS 2019 Q4: Dainik Jagran & Times of India top most-read Hindi and English newspaper list
In spite of a slow market, TOI, Daily Thanthi, Telegraph, Lokmat, HT and the Hindu are some of the newspapers that have seen a rise in readership in Q4
MRUC (Media Research Users Council) has announced the release of IRS 2019Q4 data. The report is based on a Rolling Average of data from 3 quarters IRS 2019 (Q1), (Q2) and (Q3) and one fresh quarter – Q4 of IRS 2019.
Dainik Jagran and Times of India top the list of most-read Hindi and English newspaper as per Q4 of IRS 2019. However, according to the freshly released readership data by Media Research Users Council India (MRUC India) newspaper readership is on a slow decline and is a trend seen across Hindi, English and Regional languages.
The report highlights how all the northern states except Jammu and Kashmir show a slow decline in readership. In the western states show a steady decline in readership except for Goa.
In the south, all states show a decline in readership with Kerala and Telangana showing sharper declines. Lastly in the east except for Odisha which is steady, all other states show a steady decline in readership. This report is based on a rolling average of data from 3 quarters IRS 2019 (Q1), (Q2) and (Q3) and one fresh quarter – Q4 of IRS 2019.
Coming to the top publications Dainik Jagran clocked a total readership of 68667 in Q4 against 68667 in Q3 and an average issue readership of 16872 against 17496 in Q3. The highest read English daily The Times Of India recorded a total readership of 17344 in Q4 against 16986 in Q3 showing a rise. Their total average issue readership in Q4 stood at 5560 against 5821 in Q3. Other than TOI, Daily Thanthi, Telegraph, Lokmat, HT and the Hindu are some of the newspapers that have seen a rise in readership even in the slow market.
Pratap Pawar, Chairman of MRUC India and Chairman of Sakal Media said, “We have successfully completed and released all four quarters of IRS 2019 data. I thank our Board of Governors and IRS Technical Committee for their unwavering commitment and their resolve in providing the industry with a robust, reliable and timely research study.”
Vikram Sakhuja, IRS Technical Committee Chairman and Group CEO Madison Media & OOH, Madison World said, “With 4 Quarters of 2019 data now complete we are reporting a complete year’s picture. Earlier quarters had also included some part of 2017 data. A few trends are emerging. Internet penetration has increased substantially and is now mainstream along with TV and Print; NCCS D&E are reducing quarter on quarter faster than HH socio-economic status thereby suggesting the need to Relook at the NCCS definition; ability to read and understand English has increased and while overall Print Readership is holding, daily readership has started showing signs of decline.”
