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IRS Q1, 2010: Mumbai Mirror, Mid-Day and Navbharat Times register growth in Mumbai
In Maharashtra, Lokmat has added 33.47 lakh readers in the last three rounds, taking its current total readership to 2.33 crore
Four of the Top 10 dailies in Mumbai belong to the Times group – The Times of India, Maharashtra Times, Mumbai Mirror and Navbharat Times. While Mumbai Mirror and Navbharat Times have experienced growths in readership, TOI and Maharashtra Times have lost readers in the current round of IRS.
Though TOI continues to be the lead daily in the city (Greater Mumbai) with a total readership of 24.73 lakh, the newspaper has lost about 1.08 lakh readers in the last three rounds, which includes 18,000 readers in the current round. In Maharashtra, where TOI is the No. 7 daily and the only English daily to feature amongst top 10 dailies in the state, it has lost 1.04 lakh readers in the last three rounds. Its total readership now stands at 33.92 lakh.
The second position amongst dailies in the city is also held by Times group's Maharashtra Times. However, this Marathi daily, too, has also lost 68,000 readers in the current round. The last one year has been tough on the Marathi daily as it has lost 1.27 lakh readers during this period. However, compared to R2, 2008, it has managed to maintain a status quo as it is only 5,000 readers less than what it was back then, which is negligible. In Maharashtra, where the daily is placed at No.10, it has lost 1.94 lakh readers in the last three rounds.
Mumbai Mirror has taken a leap of two levels in this round – from No. 6 to No. 4 – with a total readership of 14.78 lakh. The newspaper has added 58,000 readers in the current round, but had lost 79,000 readers in the previous round. In fact, in the previous two rounds put together, the newspaper had lost 1.4 lakh readers, which it has compensated to an extent in the current round. Also, outside Mumbai, the tabloid has a readership of only 45,000 readers and it is ranked No. 9 in Maharashtra.
Next in Greater Mumbai at No. 5 is Lokmat. Maharashtra's No. 1 daily has, however, recorded a marginal decrease in total readership by 10,000 readers, though it was steadily gaining momentum since the last few rounds. In Greater Mumbai, this Marathi daily had added 85,000 readers in the previous two rounds (R1, 2009 and R2, 2009). The daily claims a total readership of 14.5 lakh in the city. In Maharashtra, though, the newspaper has added 33.47 lakh readers in the last three rounds, taking its current total readership to 2.33 crore.
At No. 6 is Navbharat Times, the Hindi daily from the Times group and it has been on a growing spree since the last few rounds. In fact, in the last three rounds it has added 78,000 readers in the city, taking its total readership to 14.11 lakh. The daily is also slowly spreading its tentacles across Maharashtra, where it has added 1.41 lakh readers in the last three rounds, taking its total readership to 18.56 lakh. However, in the current round, the Hindi daily has seen a marginal decline of 25,000 in readership in the state.
Loksatta, at No. 7, has lost 2.18 lakh total readers in the last three rounds, taking its total readership to 14.06 lakh in the city. This sixth largest daily of the state has also lost more than 5 lakh readers in Maharashtra during the same period. It claims a total readership of 34.59 lakh in the state.
After having slipped to No. 8 in the last round, Mid-Day is steady at the position in this round as well, with the total readership of 13.70 lakh. Though the tabloid has added 44,000 readers in the current round, it is still 1.01 lakh short of its total readership in R2, 2008.
At No. 9 is DNA with a total readership of 12.23 lakh, which has recorded a loss of 60,000 readers since the last round. The English daily has lost 1.01 lakh readers in the last two rounds in the financial capital.
Constant at No. 10 is Mumbai Choufer, with a total readership of 11.98 lakh. Though the Marathi daily registered a marginal growth of 11,000 readers in the last round, in the current round, it has lost 34,000 readers. The total loss of the daily in the last one year amounts to 23,000 readers. The newspaper has a readership of only 1.21 lakh outside Greater Mumbai.