When I wrote last month, about the release of the July ABC figures, I forecast that the Independent on Sunday was doomed because it had lost so many of the sales it had added before it was transformed into a single-section paper. I'm afraid the August figures provide even worse news for the paper.
The Sindy lost a further 2% of its sale in the month, and is more than 3% down on its already poor circulation of 12 months ago. But the headline figure conceals an even sadder underlying tale. Last month the paper sold only 132,500 copies at its full cover price, 16,000 fewer than a year ago. Its multiple sales - the cheap copies given away in hotels, on planes and fast-food outlets - amounted to 39,000, an increase over last year more than 1,700 copies. Its foreign sale, at 39,000, was 7,000 up as well.
What all this tells us is that the "experiment" of turning the paper into a single section hasn't made the slightest difference to its popularity. It has resumed its downward slide.
It's also noticeable that The Independent itself has run into a circulation brick wall. With the Daily Telegraph virtually becalmed, and The Guardian suffering from a nagging decline, it's no wonder that News International felt confident enough to take the risk of increasing the cover price of The Times.
In August The Times's full-rate sale in Britain was a very healthy 439,700, almost 30,000 ahead of the Telegraph. It will be interesting to see the effect of the price rise at the end of this month.
