IRS 2010 Q1: Prajavani and Kannada Prabha grow in Karnataka

As per the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2010 Q1, eight out of the top 10 dailies in Karnataka have lost readers. The only publications to have gained readers are Prajavani and Kannada Prabha.

The No.1 daily in the state, Vijay Karnataka has recorded a total readership of 78.94 lakh readers in Q1, 2010. The daily has lost 3.3 lakh readers in the current round, which brings its readership loss in the last two rounds to 8 lakh. The daily, which also holds the No. 1 position in Bengaluru, claims a total readership of 12.43 lakh in the city, having lost 1.97 lakh readers in the last two rounds.

The No. 2 daily, Prajavani has added 3.26 lakh readers in the latest round, thus compensating for the loss of 1.41 lakh readers in the previous round (R2, 2009). The daily's total readership stands at 57.73 lakh, as per Q1, 2010.

The daily enjoys the No. 2 position in Bengaluru too, and claims a total readership of 9.75 lakh. It has added 88,000 readers in the current round, though it had lost 1.35 lakh readers in the previous round.

Kannada Prabha is placed No. 4 in the state, with a total readership of 20.74 lakh as per Q1, 2010. It is the only other daily in the state, alongside Prajavani, to add readers in the current round. In Q1, 2010, it has added 35,000 readers, thus making up for half of the loss (71,000 readers) it experienced in R2, 2009.

In Bengaluru, the daily is at No. 7, with a total readership of 2.28 lakh – a loss of 29,000 readers in Q1, 2010.

The Times of India (TOI) is at No. 6 with a total readership of 9.25 lakh -- less than half that of its closest competitor, Udayavani. The English daily has lost 98,000 readers in the current round. However, in Bengaluru, it is placed at No. 3, with a total readership of 5.74 lakh; which implies that it gets more than half of its total readership in the state from the capital city. However, even in this market, the country's largest English daily has lost 42,000 readers, the same as in the previous round (R2, 2009).

Sanjevani is at No. 7 in the state, with a total readership of 7.74 lakh – a loss of 45,000 readers from the previous round. The Kannada daily has a sizeable market in Bengaluru, which contributes close to 50 per cent of its total readership in the state. In the current round, the newspaper has added 12,000 readers in the city.

Next is Deccan Herald, the second English daily to feature in the top 10. The newspaper has lost 66,000 readers in the current round, taking its total readership to 7.6 lakh in the state. The newspaper has a higher readership than TOI's in Karnataka outside Bengaluru. In Bengaluru, it claims a total readership of 3.51 lakh and is ranked at No. 5.

The Marathi daily, Tarun Bharat is at No. 9. It is the only other language daily to feature amongst the top 10, apart from Kannada and English dailies. This Marathi daily has a total readership of 3.52 lakh in the state; but in Bengaluru, it doesn't feature in the top 10 list.

In fact, in Bengaluru, the Tamil daily, Daily Thanthi features amongst the top 10, with a total readership of 1.75 lakh. The newspaper has added 15,000 readers in the current round.

Amongst others, The Hindu claims a total readership of 3.4 lakh in the state, out of which 1.55 lakh is from Bengaluru. The newspaper has maintained status quo in the state, having lost 7,000 readers; while in the city, it has lost 23,000 readers.

Deccan Chronicle, which is at No. 10 in Bengaluru, has added 18,000 readers, taking its total readership to 1.12 lakh.