IRS 2010 Q1: Most amongst Top 10 publications register growth in AIR

Dainik Jagran continues to be the No.1 daily as per AIR (average issue readership) as it has been as per total readership. In the current round, the Hindi daily has added 2.17 lakh readers, while in the previous round, it had added only 24,000 readers. Its current AIR stands at 1.63 crore.

Dainik Bhaskar, at No. 2, has also added 4.49 lakh average issue readers in this round, while in the last round it had added only 2,000 readers. The Hindi paper has an average issue readership of 1.33 crore in this round.

Hindi daily Hindustan has retained its No. 3 position, registering an AIR of 99.14 lakh – an addition of 5.78 lakh readers. During IRS R2, 2009, the daily saw an addition of only 33,000 average issue readers.

At No. 4 is Malayala Manorama, with an AIR of 95.83 lakh. It has added another 4 lakh readers, continuing with its growth rate from the previous round, when it had added 3 lakh readers. In fact, as per the total readership, the newspaper doesn't even feature in the Top 10 list.

Sitting strong at No. 5 is Amar Ujala with an AIR of 84.91 lakh in IRS Q1, 2010. The Hindi daily may have lost its ground in terms of total readership but has grown as per AIR by 1.92 lakh. During IRS R2, 2009, the daily maintained an AIR of 82.99 lakh – an increase of 1.16 lakh readers from the previous round.

Lokmat has been moving regularly up the ladder and this time it has moved up two steps in terms of AIR. It is now at No. 6 from No. 8 (during IRS R2, 2009) with an average issue readership of 73.61 lakh in the latest round. The daily has left The Times of India and Daily Thanthi behind in the Top 10 race and has added 2.57 lakh readers this time.

Daily Thanthi and TOI have been pushed to No.7 and No. 8 positions this time (from their previous rankings of No. 6 and No. 7, respectively). The former has registered a negative growth of 1.64 lakh average issue readership since the last round, whereas the latter has lost an AIR of 1.07 lakh.

Mathrubhumi is stable at No. 9. With a marginal increase of 20,000 readers in AIR, it is now at 66.98 lakh as opposed to 66.78 lakh recorded during IRS R2, 2009.

Rajasthan Patrika has resurfaced in the list at No. 10, replacing Infomedia Yellow Pages. Patrika has registered an AIR of 66.85 lakh, an increase of 1.99 lakh readers from the previous round. However, the daily had lost 1.82 lakh readers in the previous round, when it was also displaced from the Top 10 list.