Richard Desmond’s Express and Star titles continued to reap the benefits of recent price cuts, recording small rises in daily circulation during January as the rest of the market stayed broadly flat.
The Daily Star recorded a 4.1% rise in sales to 470,369, having halved its price from 40p to 20p during the week and also slashing the cost of its Saturday edition from 60p to 30p. The Express, which has slashed the price of its Saturday edition from 85p to 45p at the start of the month and has been prominently advertising its weekday 55p price as 10p less than the Mail, saw a rise of just under 2% to 408,700.
Though the price cuts have boosted sales, additional revenue from advertising is not thought to have made up for lost circulation income. Just days after the Express price cuts emerged in December, Desmond’s Northern & Shell announced it was seeking to cut £4m from its editorial budget.
Most of the remaining paid-for dailies saw little movement, with most recording modest month-on-month falls, with only the i and the Times showing an increase. However, the Financial Times experienced a big drop, down more than 5% tobelow 200,000.
The Sun 1,787,096 (-0.75%)
Daily Mail 1,589,471 (-0.56%)
Metro 1,348,033 (0.19%)
London Evening Standard 898,407 (4.82%)
Daily Mirror 809,147 (-0.32%)
The Daily Telegraph 472,033 (-0.92%)
Daily Star 470,369 (4.12%)
Daily Express 408,700 (1.99%)
The Times 404,155 (-1.1%)
i 271,859 (1.28%)
Financial Times 198,237 (-5.27%)
Daily Record 176,892 (-0.51%)
The Guardian 164,163 (-1.13%)
The Independent 55,193 (-1.57%)
