The majority of Irish daily and Sunday newspapers suffered a decline in sales in the second half of 2004 compared with the same period in 2003, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures.
The newspaper market was characterised during the six months by intense competition as Independent News & Media (IN&M), backed by a major marketing campaign, continued the roll-out of its so-called compact Irish Independent and the Sunday market saw the on-going inclusion of free CDs and books in an attempt to boost sales.
The Irish Times reported sales of 114,528 for the six months, compared with 115,502 in the equivalent period in 2003. This is a drop of 0.8 per cent year on year. But the newspaper is now the biggest selling daily broadsheet and when compared to other morning newspapers in the Republic, has the highest proportion of copies purchased at full cover price - at just over 98 per cent.
The Irish Independent's broadsheet edition posted a circulation of 99,684 for the second six months of 2004, while the compact sold 72,226. This compares to a figure of 161,297 for the broadsheet only for the same period in 2003. The new compact format was introduced on February 10th last year and by June, the split in circulation between the broadsheet and compact was 129,035 versus 52,045.
However, it is not possible to combine the sales of compact and broadsheet editions to obtain an accurate daily total because the compact was sold from Monday to Friday only until November 13th when it became a six day product. ABC describes the compact and broadsheet as different products.
However, a continuing feature of the Irish Independent's figures was the relatively high presence of bulk sales where newspapers are sold at a reduced cover price to boost sales. Of the 99,684 broadsheet sales, more than seven per cent were bulk sales, while of the 72,226 compact sales, some 17.2 per cent were bulk sales. This figure dwarfs the cut-price sales recorded by all other newspapers.
The Irish Examiner posted sales of 58,778 for the second six months of 2004, compared with 59,412 in the equivalent period in 2003. This was a year-on-year decline of 1.1 per cent. Almost six per cent of sales were at less than cover price.
In the evening market, the Evening Herald suffered another circulation decline. It posted weekday sales of 88,284, compared with 96,203 in the same period in 2003. This was a 8.2 per cent fall. Its Saturday edition posted an average sale of 55,002, compared with 59,851 in the second half of 2003, a drop of 8.1 per cent.
Ireland on Sunday suffered the largest year-on-year decline in the Sunday market with sales falling 10.2 per cent to 144,172 from 160,493. Almost 100 per cent of the paper's sales were at full cover price. Year-on-year sales of the Sunday Business Post fell by 0.8 per cent from 49,007 to 48,639. The majority (98.9 per cent) of its sales were at full cover price.
The Sunday Independent retains the highest circulation in the Republic with sales of 291,323 for the second half of 2004, down 0.4 per cent from 292,499 in the same period in 2003. But almost seven per cent of its figures consisted of bulk sales. In contrast, the Sunday Tribune suffered a 4.4 per cent drop from 83,445 to 79,769. Some 3.4 per cent of its latest sales figure consisted of bulk sales.
The launch by IN&M of the compact Irish Independent and a major accompanying marketing campaign represented the most significant development in the Irish newspaper market in 2004. According to John Horgan, from the Schools of Communications at DCU, its success depends on where sales are coming from.
"If the evidence points more towards internal cannibalisation, then a process of substitution may be taking place. But even substitution may be a plus if it repositions the Independent so that it can better repel any threat from a mid-market UK tabloid like the Daily Mail or any Irish Daily Mail-type rival," he said.
Louise Fitzpatrick, research executive with Initiative Media, one of the biggest advertising agencies in Dublin, said the success of the compact appeared to have had the most severe effect on fellow IN&M title, the Evening Herald. This was presumably due to the now similar format and already similar news stories, she added.
Prof Horgan pointed to the costs associated with producing two formats in the long term but a spokesman for IN&M said there were no plans to end the broadsheet which remained popular with a large number of readers.
