Q1 IRS 2011: Rajasthan emerges as the biggest gainer for English dailies

The latest quarter of IRS is a mixed bag for English dailies across the country. While the English language dailies have registered a marginal decline of 1.15 lakh readers in the last two years, in the Hindi speaking markets, the English press is slowly strengthening its grip, though, the numbers remain small.

The English language dailies have registered growth across most of the Hindi-speaking belt (Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Haryana, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh), and Karnataka and Gujarat.

Karnataka, with a total readership of 20.62 lakh, emerges as the second biggest gainer for the English language press. The South-Indian state has added 1.26 lakh readers since R1 2009, a growth of 7 per cent.The TOI has the maximum readership of 9.59 lakh (a gain of 40,000 readers from Q4, 2010), followed by Deccan Herald, with a TR of 8.52 lakh (a gain of 53,000 readers), and The Hindu with a TR of 3.04 lakh (a loss of 52,000 readers).

Gujarat is the third biggest gainer for the English language press, where the dailies have a TR of 5.80 lakh -- a gain of 1.26 lakh in the last two years. The English press in the state, has grown at the rate of 28 per cent. The TOI takes the lions' share here as well, with a TR of 4.77 lakh, followed by The Indian Express (34,000 readership), and DNA (33,000 readership).

Jharkhand, which has added close to a lakh readers since R1, 2009, is next in line. But, the state has lost about 30,000 readers this time, and has a total readership of 4.74 lakh. Here the top two dailies -- The Telegraph and the TOI -- both have lost readership marginally this time (9,000 and 11,000, respectively).

Haryana is the fifth biggest gainer for the English dailies since R1 2009. The state, like Jharkhand, has lost readership this time (45,000 readers), but it has added 73,000 readers in the rounds before that. The top three English language newspapers of Haryana are HT (4.30 lakh), the TOI (TR of 3.78 lakh) and The Tribune (TR of 2.33 lakh), in that order. The TOI has lost marginally in the last two years here (a loss of 9,000 readers), while the other two have gained readership.

In the last two years, since R1 IRS 2009, Maharashtra has emerged as the No.1 state, as far as the English language dailies are concerned. The total readership of English language newspapers in the state has recorded a marginal decline of 50,000 readers since R1 2009. Interestingly, the capital of the state Mumbai, which contributes the maximum chunk of English dailies readership, still continues to grow, though marginally in the last two years. As per the Q1 IRS 2011, the other cities of Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) contribute only 14 lakh readership of the 57.55 lakh (the total readership of the English dailies in the state).

Mumbai, having added 19,000 this time and 61,000 readers since R1 2009 to its readership, stands at a total readership of 43.54 lakh. It is the third biggest market for the English dailies.

Delhi, the second biggest market for the English language newspaper, has lost maximum readership (English language). Delhi has a total readership of 52.02 lakh this time --a de-growth of 50 per cent in the last two years, since R1 2009.

Tamil Nadu is the fifth biggest market for English dailies, with a total readership of 34.89 lakh in the present quarter. Tamil Nadu, too, has lost readership since R1 2009 -- a marginal loss of 1.62 lakh readers. In this quarter, the state has lost 73,000 readers.

The English language newspapers havealso recorded a decline in the regional markets ofAndhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, and Assam apart from Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.