Last Sunday, February 26th, saw the launch of News International’s widely anticipated replacement for the News of the World – The Sun on Sunday. Whilst the launch has been predicted for some time, staff at NI had originally been told to expect a first issue at the end of March, so even they were caught on the hop when Rupert Murdoch himself arrived at their Wapping offices a couple of weeks ago and made the announcement he was bringing it forward. Given this short notice and to ease pressure on the sales team, advertisers were asked to commit to booking three out of four weeks. Seemingly, this did little to deter major brands, with space in the paper selling out by last Thursday. Among those who appeared in the first issue were British Gas, Morrisons, Three and Halifax.
We were told to expect editorial that was family and female focussed, with the paper’s style to be similar to the regular Sun’s but “crisper and cleaner” (and, like the Saturday version, without a page 3 girl). To target male readers, the sports section will be extensive, which means the demands on the sports editorial team, who already produce a huge football section on Mondays, will be substantial.
An aggressive TV campaign, starting with 10” spots during the BRIT Awards on ITV and ramping up to 60” spots by Saturday triggered a response from rival papers the Sunday Mirror and Daily Star Sunday, who went to air with TV ads of their own. The Daily Star Sunday even cheekily claimed to deliver “the news of your world”. These two papers also reduced their cover price to 50p to match the Sun on Sunday’s, as they battled to hold on to the c.1 million rise in circulation they have gained since the News of the World’s demise.
The first issue has been met with mixed reactions from those within the industry, with some describing it as a damp squib, lacking the NOTW’s clout and investigative journalism. The decision to run with the story of Amanda Holden’s recent difficult birth to her baby daughter has formed part of that criticism, with many viewing it as a rather soft front page for a launch issue. However, if the Sun on Sunday is set to target a family, female readership, then it has to be said the choice does seem a good fit. With Murdoch claiming the first issue sold 3.26 million copies, more than the 2.7 million its predecessor was managing and well up on the 2 million he claimed he would be happy with, the launch appears to have been successful.
It will be very interesting to keep track of what the circulation settles down to over the coming weeks and months, with the first ABC figures due in April. Even more interesting is the potential impact on the Sunday market as a whole, with the Sunday Mirror alone rumoured to have lost a massive 450,000 from its circulation last weekend. As ever, we’ll keep you abreast of all the changes, so stay tuned.
Kyle Seeley
Senior Planner Buyer
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Tuesday 14 February 2012
‘Why i? - It’s all in the ABCs’
The latest paper circulation figures for January have been released in the last few days. As we all know the national press has had a turbulent time over the past year and in particular with the News of The World closing there was much speculation as to where all that paper’s readers would go.
At least for now it seems the dust is starting to settle with the Sunday Mirror absorbing a large number of those left seeking an alternative to their Sunday spread. Figures show the Sunday Mirror has enjoyed an almost 36% year on year increase in circulation of approximately 700,000.
A big question is where have all the others readers gone? The News of The World closed with 2.6million loyal followers, which means that there should be a huge opportunity for the Sundays. However, even the Sunday Express only managed to take over a small proportion of this with a 100,000 increase in sales which seems to indicate there are a lot of people who simply don’t want to buy and read a Sunday paper anymore.
This raises some other questions. With the scandal at The Sun on-going, will people start to turn their backs on brands they’ve remained loyal to years? Will they choose a different medium to absorb the daily headlines or are people simply not that interested in the world around them anymore?
The January circulation figures show that there is only one daily paper to see a marked increase - the i. The i being the sister paper of the Independent, aimed at readers and lapsed readers of all ages, and commuters with limited time, launched on 26th October 2010. This is another strong month for the i backed by a considerable spend on TV which has resulted in a 40% year on year increase and improvements in circulation every month. The i sells for only 20 pence, 30% cheaper than The Sun and 80% cheaper than The Times. Therefore it appears the formula is right, a quick, quality read at an affordable price.
What will be interesting is how other titles react? There are rumours circulating that The Sun may launch a new Sunday alternative and will some of the other Daily papers follow the same route of producing a low cost alternative like the I? It remains to be seen…
*ABC- Audit Bureau of Circulations
At least for now it seems the dust is starting to settle with the Sunday Mirror absorbing a large number of those left seeking an alternative to their Sunday spread. Figures show the Sunday Mirror has enjoyed an almost 36% year on year increase in circulation of approximately 700,000.
A big question is where have all the others readers gone? The News of The World closed with 2.6million loyal followers, which means that there should be a huge opportunity for the Sundays. However, even the Sunday Express only managed to take over a small proportion of this with a 100,000 increase in sales which seems to indicate there are a lot of people who simply don’t want to buy and read a Sunday paper anymore.
This raises some other questions. With the scandal at The Sun on-going, will people start to turn their backs on brands they’ve remained loyal to years? Will they choose a different medium to absorb the daily headlines or are people simply not that interested in the world around them anymore?
The January circulation figures show that there is only one daily paper to see a marked increase - the i. The i being the sister paper of the Independent, aimed at readers and lapsed readers of all ages, and commuters with limited time, launched on 26th October 2010. This is another strong month for the i backed by a considerable spend on TV which has resulted in a 40% year on year increase and improvements in circulation every month. The i sells for only 20 pence, 30% cheaper than The Sun and 80% cheaper than The Times. Therefore it appears the formula is right, a quick, quality read at an affordable price.
What will be interesting is how other titles react? There are rumours circulating that The Sun may launch a new Sunday alternative and will some of the other Daily papers follow the same route of producing a low cost alternative like the I? It remains to be seen…
*ABC- Audit Bureau of Circulations
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