So the Sunday sales see-saw between the Sun on Sunday and the Mail on Sunday has tilted in the former title’s favour... at least, for the moment.
When the MoS overtook the SoS in the month of May, I hailed it as a landmark moment. But it would appear, as News UK suggested at the time, that the Mail’s success was founded on promotions.
It saw the Mail title rise by 50,000 copies in May over its April total of 1,447,000. But, in June, the MoS fell back to record a lower sale than two months previously: 1,434,00. The compared to the Sun on Sunday’s June sale of 1,466,000.
I must therefore eat my words because, clearly, the red-top remains on top of the circulation chart.
And it would be remiss of me to fail to mention that the Mail on Sunday’s headline sale includes some 71,000 bulk sales (the copies sold at fraction of their cover price to enable airports, airlines and rail companies to give them away free). And that is 4,000 more than the month before.
If we looked long term, the current figures show that the SoS is losing about 10% of its circulation in the course of a year compared to the 6% loss for the MoS.
That does suggest a trend that will, in the fullness of time, see the Mail title overtake its rival. But I was obviously getting ahead of myself.
For the moment, though, it seems only fair to let the Sun on Sunday’s editor, Victoria Newton, have her say:
“The Sun on Sunday remains the market leader on Sundays. When it comes to journalism, whether it is serious news such as in the aftermath of the Tunisia massacre, celebrity revelations or sports reporting, we continue to outperform our competitors”.
Sure, I know it’s hype, and so does she. But it’s appropriate in the circumstances.
