Media & Marketing: In what is fast becoming a trend, British newspapers in the Republic have suffered further circulation declines, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), writes Emmet Oliver.
The figures, covering the period from December 30th, 2002, to June 29th, 2003, look at circulation among the 29 British newspapers available in the Republic. While some titles made gains in this period - most notably the Sun, the Racing Post and the Sunday Times - the general drift was downward.
Among the red tops, the Sun, which has an Irish edition, managed to bump up circulation to 114,242, compared to 112,882 in the same period in 2002. Its rival the Mirror, which also produces an Irish edition, slipped back to 78,821, a very sharp fall from its previous position of 84,204 in the first six months of 2002.
The paper appears to be suffering from a general malaise, with its British edition hitting new circulations lows and editor Mr Piers Morgan under fire over his anti-war stance.
While his position of opposing the war in Iraq won him plenty of plaudits from broadsheet editors and anti-war politicians, the Sun played to the gallery and appears to have been bolstered in circulation terms.
Its new editor Rebekah Wade outraged feminists and Guardian columnists by retaining the Sun's oldest institution, the Page 3 girl, and her faith in the paper's non-PC cheeky values appears to have worked here and in the UK.
The mid-market British papers, the Daily Express and Daily Mail, experienced contrasting fortunes, with the former losing further market share here and the Daily Mail, one of the few circulation builders in Britain right now, bringing its Irish sales to 7,773.
Decline was in the air for the British broadsheet dailies too, based on the figures for the Republic. The following titles all lost circulation: Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, London Independent and London Times. The only title bucking the trend in this segment was the left-leaning Guardian, which rose slightly.
The Irish figures for the Financial Times (down to 4,519, from 5,223 in the first half of 2002) will come as a major disappointment, with an expensive relaunch by the paper's owners Pearson apparently not staunching the flow of its readers.
While the managing director of Pearson, Dame Marjorie Scardino, has set her face against selling the title, its circulation losses here and in Britain are quite serious.
Among the Sundays, the picture was less bleak, with decent gains in Ireland by the News of the World, the Sunday Times and the Business newspaper, but the circulation losses were still profound for other titles. The London-based Independent on Sunday, owned by Sir Anthony O'Reilly, dropped from 9,141 to 4,192.
The News of the World, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International, appears to now represent a serious rival for newspapers such as the Sunday World, Ireland on Sunday and the new Star on Sunday (due out in the autumn). The News of the World's circulation rose to 168,144 for the first half of 2003 in the Republic.
Downtown versus malls
Yesterday five advertising agencies trooped in to meet senior officials from the Dublin City Business Association (DCBA), the body that represents traders throughout the city centre.
At stake is an advertising contract worth about 200,000. The DCBA is concerned that the downtown area, particularly shopping thoroughfares like Grafton Street, O'Connell Street and Henry Street, might be under threat from the big shopping malls at Liffey Valley and Blanchardstown.
The association wants to ensure consumers do not desert the city centre because of traffic congestion and road works.
However, anyone who has sampled the M50 on a Saturday recently will know that traffic congestion is a problem for the monster malls too. However, the city traders want an advertising campaign that counters the myth that town is clogged and has few parking spaces.
The agency that manages to emphasise the family-based shopping experience that town can be is likely to be the winner, one suspects.
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