Independent's 'compact' selling 52,045

The tabloid version of the Irish Independent introduced earlier this year has reported an average net circulation of 52,045 for the first six months of the year, according to new ABC figures.

The broadsheet version of the paper posted an average net circulation of 129,035 between January and June 2004. In the same period last year, the Irish Independent had net average circulation of 162,463.

Independent News & Media (IN&M) launched the tabloid version on February 10th in the Dublin area and it was later introduced to other parts of the Republic.

Of the 129,035 sales for the broadsheet version of the paper, 11,738 were regular bulk sales. These are sales of the paper sold at a discounted rate as part of sales promotional activity. Of the tabloid's 52,045 sales, some 3,759 were regular bulk sales.

The Irish Times posted sales of 116,009 for the first six months, compared to 117,565 for the same period in 2003, a drop of 1,556. Bulk sales accounted for 1,814 of this figure.

The newspaper's circulation for the six months ending December 2003 was 115,502 a day.

The Irish Examiner suffered a fall in sales in the first six months of the year, down 4.4 per cent to 57,609. This translated into a loss of 2,260 sales.

Sales of the Evening Herald fell significantly in the first half of the year. Circulation at 92,510 was down 7.3 per cent compared to the equivalent period in 2003, a loss of 7,223 copies.

In the Sunday market the sharpest fall in sales was suffered by Ireland on Sunday, owned by Associated Newspapers. Its average net circulation fell from 167,996 in the first half of 2003 to 151,899 in the six months to end-June, 2004. This was a loss of 16,097 in sales or 9.6 per cent.

The Sunday Business Post posted sales of 52,115 in the first half of the year, up 1 per cent on the same period in 2003, when its sales were at 51,613. The Sunday Independent, which remains the largest selling paper in the market, dropped 1 per cent to 291,926 in the first half of this year. This translated into a loss of 2,813 sales.

The Sunday Tribune saw a strong rise in circulation, up 8.7 per cent in the first half of 2004. This brought sales to 87,026 for the first half of the year, from 80,095 in the same period in 2003. The paper sold 5,909 copies as "bulk sales" in the first half of the year.

The Sunday World, Republic of Ireland edition, sold 206,010 copies in the first half of 2004, down by 4,040 compared to the first half of 2003 or 1.9 per cent. The paper's Northern Ireland edition was down 9.1 per cent to 62,318 in the first half of 2004.

Irish Times managing director Ms Maeve Donovan last night commented on the figures. "On first reading, it would appear that the market has grown. It is incorrect, however, to simply combine Independent's six-day broadsheet and five-day tabloid editions. An estimate of the combined result would give an average daily circulation of 163,000 copies approximately. This represents a very modest increase in sales.

"Independent would appear to have made a very significant investment for very little return. Problems also continue at the Herald where sales have fallen. This is undoubtedly an indicator of cannibalisation by the tabloid Indo of its sister title."

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures indicated that comparisons of Irish Independent circulation with previous periods were not applicable following the introduction of the tabloid format.

A spokeswoman for IN&M said the company was delighted with the response to the tabloid or "compact" edition. She said it was hard to assess the full extent of its sales at this stage because the compact was only available nationwide from April 19th.

She said it was clear younger readers and commuters were attracted to the product. It was not technically correct to add the figures for the compact and broadsheet together because one was a five-day product, the other a six-day product, she added.