Breaking News: IRS Q4 2012 – HT scores as TOI sees degrowth
Five out of the top 10 English
dailies have registered growth in AIR. The Tribune edges out The New
Indian Express to grab the No. 9 position
BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | March 28, 2013
The
fourth quarter results of the Indian Readership Survey have just been
released. According to IRS Q4 2012, five out of the top 10 English
dailies have registered growth in their Average Issue Readership (AIR).
There is only one change in the pecking order with The Tribune
overtaking The New Indian Express to grab the No. 9 rank.
India’s largest English daily, The Times of India, has
witnessed a decline in its readership in the fourth quarter of IRS
2012. The daily has lost 38,000 readers in this quarter recording an AIR
of 76.15 lakh compared with 76.53 lakh in the previous quarter, 76.43
in IRS Q2 2012, 76.52 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 76.16 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.
The No. 2 English daily, Hindustan Times, has
added 34,000 readers in the current survey recording an AIR of 38.20
lakh compared with 37.86 in IRS Q3 2012, 37.67 lakh in IRS Q2 2012 and
38.05 lakh in IRS Q1 2012.
The No. 3 English daily, The Hindu, has
registered a significant decline in its AIR in this round. It has lost
94,000 readers recording an AIR of 21.64 lakh compared with 22.58 lakh
in the previous quarter and 22.08 lakh in IRS Q2 2012.
The Telegraph, from ABP Group, has
added a few readers this quarter after consecutive losses in the
previous three quarters. By adding 11,000 readers it has recorded and
AIR of 12.65 lakh against 12.54 lakh in the previous quarter, 12.75 lakh
in IRS Q2 2012, 12.92 lakh in IRS Q1 2011, 12.73 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.
Deccan Chronicle has
witnessed degrowth in the current quarter. By losing 31,000 readers, the
daily has recorded an AIR of 10.20 lakh in IRS Q4 2012 against 10.51 in
the previous survey, 10.38 lakh in IRS Q2 2012, 10.27 lakh in IRS Q1
2012, 10.34 in IRS Q4 2011.
At No.6, DNA has
added 10,000 readers this quarter. The daily has registered an AIR of
9.72 lakh in IRS Q4 2012 compared with 9.62 lakh in the previous
quarter, 9.30 lakh in IRS Q2 2012, 9.09 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 8.97
lakh in IRS Q4 2011.
Mumbai Mirror, from the TOI stable, also
added 12,000 readers this quarter. The tabloid dhad added the same
number of readers in the last survey. Its current AIR stands at 8.19
lakh compared with 8.07 lakh in IRS Q3 2012, 7.95 lakh in Q2, 7.77 lakh
in Q1 2012 and 8.03 in IRS Q4 2011.
The Economic Times has
lost a few readers for the third quarter in a row. It has lost 18,000
readers in the current survey. Its current AIR stands at 7.35 lakh
against 7.53 lakh in previous quarter, 7.89 lakh in Q2, 7.92 lakh in Q1
2012, and 7.9 lakh in Q4 2011.
Continuous growth has pushed The Tribune one
position up. The daily has added 18,000 readers to take its AIR at 6.71
lakh in IRS Q4 2012 compared with 6.53 lakh in the previous quarter,
6.40 lakh in IRS Q2 2012 and 6.24 lakh in IRS Q1 2012. The Tribune had
5.85 lakh readers in IRS Q4 2011.
The New Indian Express has
slipped one position to No. 10 after three consecutive quarterly
losses. The daily has recorded an AIR of 6.52 lakh in IRS Q4 2012
compared with 6.64 lakh in the previous quarter, 6.67 lakh in IRS Q2
2012 and 6.78 lakh in Q1 2012. TNIE had 6.37 lakh readers in IRS Q4
2011.
| Top 10 English Dailies | ||
| Publication | IRS Q4 2012 | IRS Q3 2012 |
| The Times of India | 7615 | 7653 |
| Hindustan Times | 3820 | 3786 |
| The Hindu | 2164 | 2258 |
| The Telegraph | 1265 | 1254 |
| Deccan Chronicle | 1020 | 1051 |
| DNA | 972 | 962 |
| Mumbai Mirror | 819 | 807 |
| The Economic Times | 735 | 753 |
| The Tribune | 671 | 653 |
| The New Indian Express | 652 | 664 |
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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.
