Newspaper sales continue to decline across the board

Newspapers sales in Ireland recorded further losses in the first half of 2014, with the daily market declining 7.3 per cent and the Sunday market down 6.3 per cent year-on-year.

The print circulation of all the main titles retreated, exacerbating a trend that dates back to 2007, according to figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).

Sales of The Irish Times fell 4.6 per cent in January-June 2014 compared with the same period in 2013. As this decline was less than the market average, the newspaper made some gains in its share of the daily market. The newspaper's print circulation is 80,332, a drop of 3,869 copies year-on-year.

While not included in the data collated by the ABC, the Irish Times Digital Edition has daily sales of 2,906, taking the combined net sale for the print and digital editions to 83,238, down 4.3 per cent.

The ABC Island of Ireland Report shows the Irish Independent's circulation fell 7.2 per cent to 112,383, down 8,737 copies year-on-year. The number of actively purchased copies of the newspaper dropped below the 100,000 threshold to 98,300. Its sister paper the Herald was the worst performing title in the market, plunging 11.9 per cent to 51,600.

Job losses

The

Irish Examiner

now sells 35,026 copies, down 7.6 per cent, while the

Evening Echo

saw its circulation decline 10.5 per cent to 13,787. Both titles are now owned by

Landmark Media Investments

, which also owns several local newspapers. It indicated in April that it planned to cut 10 per cent of its workforce, or about 50 jobs.

Elsewhere in the daily market, the Irish Daily Star has a circulation of 55,788 in the Republic, down 8.1 per cent, while the Irish Daily Mirror fell 7.9 per cent to 50,263 and the Sun dropped 7 per cent to 60,711.

The Irish Daily Mail, published by Associated Newspapers Ireland, fell 4.1 per cent year-on-year to a circulation in the Republic of 48,597.

The Irish Farmers Journal was one of the best-performing print publications in the period, with the weekly title recording a circulation of 70,235, down just 0.9 per cent year-on-year.

In the Sunday market, the Sunday Independent extended its lead as the biggest-selling title, with sales of 220,565. This was down 5.1 per cent compared to the first half of 2013.

The circulation of the Sunday World, which is also part of the Independent News & Media stable, dropped below 200,000. Sales fell 6.1 per cent to 198,260 for the period.

INM announced last week that it is to merge the editorial operations of the Sunday World and the Herald, with the loss of 13 jobs.

Tablet app

The

Sunday Times

recorded sales of 91,841 in the Republic, down 6.6 per cent year-on-year. The title launched a new tablet app for the Irish edition in March.

Sales of the Sunday Business Post, which is in the process of recruiting a new editor following the exit of Cliff Taylor, arrived at 34,012 in the first half of 2014, down 11.2 per cent year-on-year, but more or less stable on the second half of 2013.

The Irish Mail on Sunday slipped 5 per cent to a circulation of 93,631, while the Sun on Sunday declined 3.8 per cent to 55,417 copies and the Sunday Mirror fell 9.5 per cent to 35,467.