IRS Q3 2012: Cheerful quarter for Top 10 Hindi dailies
Seven out of top 10 Hindi dailies grow but there is no change in the pecking order. Dainik Jagran continues to be numero uno while Prabhat Khabar adds maximum readers
BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | January 29, 2013
This
quarter has brought cheers to Hindi dailies also as seven out of the
top 10 Hindi dailies have registered growth in their Average Issue
Readership (AIR) in IRS Q3 2012 with no change in the pecking order.
India’s No. 1 Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran, added
45,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2012 after adding 17,000
readers in the previous quarter. The daily has recorded an AIR of
1,64,74,000 in IRS Q3 2012 compared with 1,64,29,000 in IRS Q2 2012 and
1,64,12,000 in IRS Q1 2012. Dainik Jagran had 1,64,10,000 readers in IRS
Q4 2011 and 1,64,58,000 readers in IRS Q3 2011. Thus it has added
16,000 readers over the year.
At No. 2, Dainik Bhaskar has
shown some recovery after losing readership in the last two quarters.
The daily has added 43,000 readers and recorded an AIR of 1,44,91,000 in
IRS Q3 2012 against 1,44,48,000 in the previous quarter, 1,45,53,000 in
IRS Q1 2012 and 1,46,02,000 in IRS Q4 2011.
Hindustan continues to be
the third largest read Hindi daily on the back of consistent growth over
the past several quarters. It has added 37,000 readers in IRS Q3 2012
to record an AIR of 1,22,42,000 compared with 1,22,05,000 in the
previous quarter, 1,21,57,000 in IRS Q1 2012 and 1,20,45,000 in IRS Q4
2011.
The fourth largest Hindi daily, Amar Ujala, has
lost 72,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2012. The daily has
recorded an AIR of 85.36 lakh in IRS Q3 2012 against 86.08 lakh in IRS
Q2 2012, 86.93 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 88.42 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.
At No. 5, Rajasthan Patrika has
shown some recovery in the current survey. It has recorded an AIR of
68.18 lakh in IRS Q3 20132 compared with 67.56 lakh in the previous
quarter, 68.07 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 68.47 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.
Punjab Kesri has also
added 17,000 readers to take its AIR to 33.64 lakh in IRS Q3 2012
against 33.47 lakh in the previous quarter, 33.86 lakh in RS Q1 2012 and
33.30 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.
Prabhat Khabar continues
to register high growth remaining at No. 7. The daily has added maximum
readers among Hindi dailies in IRS Q3 2012. By adding 1.40 lakh readers
in the current survey, it has recorded an AIR of 27.61 lakh against
26.21 lakh in the previous quarter, 24.37 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 21.87
lakh in IRS Q4 2012.
At No. 8, Navbharat Times has
registered growth in its readership in the third quarter of IRS 2012.
The daily has added 55,000 readers and recorded an AIR of 26.39 lakh in
IRS Q3 2012 compared with 25.84 lakh in IRS Q2 2012, 25.88 lakh in IRS
Q1 2012 and 25.73 lakh in IRS Q4 2012.
Patrika’s growth momentum
has come to a halt in the third quarter of IRS 2012. The daily has lost
21,000 readers and recorded an AIR of 20.51 lakh against 20.72 lakh in
the previous quarter, 19.46 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 17.87 lakh in IRS Q4
2011.
At No. 10, Nai Dunia has
lost a few readers. It has recorded an AIR of 15.53 lakh against 15.69
lakh in IRS Q2 2012, 16.88 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 16.49 lakh in IRS Q4
2011.
| Top 10 Hindi Dailies | ||
| Publication | IRS Q3 2012 | IRS Q2 2012 |
| Dainik Jagran | 16474 | 16429 |
| Dainik Bhaskar | 14491 | 14448 |
| Hindustan | 12242 | 12205 |
| Amar Ujala | 8536 | 8608 |
| Rajasthan Patrika | 6818 | 6756 |
| Punjab Kesri | 3364 | 3347 |
| Prabhat Khabar | 2761 | 2621 |
| Navbharat Times | 2639 | 2584 |
| Patrika | 2051 | 2072 |
| Nai Dunia | 1553 | 1569 |
(AIR numbers; All figures in ’000)
————————————————————-
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.
