IRS 2010 Q3: All dailies in Kerala register decline since IRS 2009 R2

The last one year has been tough for the dailies in Kerala -- all the top ten dailies of the state have registered a decline in total readership during this period. Having lost 6.12 lakh readers, Mathrubhumi is the biggest loser among these.

The No. 1 daily of the state, Malayala Manorama has lost 1.19 lakh readers since IRS 2009 R2. Despite adding 12,000 readers in the current quarter and 1.1 lakh in the previous quarter, the daily is yet to compensate for the loss of 2.41 lakh readers it faced in IRS 2010 Q1. The Malayalam daily has lost sizeable readership in Thiruvananthapuram (65,000 readers) and other parts of Kerala. In Kochi and Kozhikode, however, it has gained marginal readership in the last one year.

Deshabhimani is at No.3 with a total readership of 30.54 lakh readers. The difference between the No. 2 and No. 3 player in Kerala is 57.29 lakh, more than the total readership of the No. 3 daily. Deshabhimani has lost 3.89 lakh readers in the last one year, across all the reporting centres of Kerala.

Climbing up the ladder to No. 4 is Madhyamam, with a total readership of 11.1 lakh in the latest quarter. The daily has added 67,000 readers this time, but has lost a total readership of 1.32 lakh since IRS 2009 R2. The Malayalam daily has added marginal readership of 3,000 in Kozhikode; but has lost readers everywhere else during this period.

Pushed to No. 5 is another Malayalam daily, Kerala Kaumudi, which has a total readership of 10.03 lakh. The daily has lost 4.86 lakh readers since IRS 2009 R2, and is the second biggest loser among the top ten dailies in Kerala.

At No. 6, Mangalam has a total readership of 7.92 lakh. The daily is yet to add 47,000 readers it lost in the previous two quarters -- IRS 2010 Q2 and Q1.

At No. 7 position is The Hindu, registering a loss of 35,000 readers in this quarter and 1.25 lakh since IRS 2009 R2. The English daily has total readership of 5.23 lakh in this quarter. The newspaper has added marginal readers in Kochi and Kozhikode, but has lost readership in Thiruvananthapuram and the rest of Kerala.

The No. 8 position is taken up by the six-days-a-week newspaper, Rashtra Deepika. It has a total readership of 4.24 lakh, and has incurred the least loss since IRS 2009 R2 among the top ten dailies of Kerala. It has lost 46,000 readers in the last one year.

At No. 9 is English daily, The New Indian Express, with a total readership of 3.87 lakh -- recording a loss of 52,000 readers since IRS 2009 R2. However, this time, the daily has gained 20,000 readers.

Kerala Kaumudi Flash is the No. 10 daily in the state, registering a loss of 85,000 readers this time. The daily has lost 2.45 lakh readers in the last one year.