Sumantha Rathore
Media

Q1 IRS 2011: Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam dailies register growth

While all three language dailies have recorded growth, Tamil dailies have registered marginal decline this quarter.

While the latest quarter of IRS, Q1 IRS 2011, has spelled good news for Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam dailies down South, the quarter has not been very good for the Tamil language dailies.

Kannada dailies have been the biggest gainers this time, with a total readership (TR) of 2.34 crore, registering a gain of 1.23 lakh readers in Q1 2011. Among the Kannada dailies, the No.2 daily of the state Prajavani, has emerged the biggest gainer, registering an increase of 4.68 lakh readers this quarter. In fact, the daily has added a total readership of 18.72 lakh since Q1 2010.

Q1 IRS 2011: Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam dailies register growth
The No.1 daily of the state, Vijay Karnataka, with a TR of 76.88 lakh, has added 41,000 readers this quarter, but has lost total readership of 2.06 lakh since Q1 2010. The daily has lost marignal readership in Bangalore -- a loss of 12,000 readers this quarter.

Samyukta Karnataka, is the No.3 daily of the state and has registered a gain of 2.26 lakh since Q1 2010 and 1.66 lakh this quarter.

The growth of Kannada dailies is followed by Malayalam dailies, with a TR of 2.28 crore. Interestingly, while any Malayalam daily has added about a lakh readers in the state this quarter, the language has lost marginally in Trivandrum (a decline of 14,000 readers).

While Malayala Manorama, the No.1 daily of Kerala, with a TR of 1.25 crore, has added 54,000 readers in the latest quarter, the No.2 daily of the state Mathrubhumi (88.77 lakh TR) has emerged the biggest gainer, registering a gain of 1.27 lakh this time. The other two top dailies of the state, Deshabhimani (TR of 28.90 lakh) and Madhyamam (TR of 12.10 lakh), have both lost readership -- 1.77 lakh and 55,000 readers, respectively. Deshabhimani has been the biggest loser since Q1 2010 -- a loss of 4.16 lakh readers.

In Trivandrum, all the top five Malayalam dailies have registered a decline in total readership. While Malayala Manorama has lost 19,000 readers in Q1 2011, Mathrubhumi, Kerala Kaumudi, Kerala Kaumudi Flash and Deshabhimani have lost 6,000, 13,000, 3,000 and 11,000 readers, respectively, in this quarter.

Telugu dailies are the third biggest gainer among the four South Indian states, but have recorded a marginal increase of 23,000 readers this quarter. The total readership of Telugu dailies stands at 2.34 crore as per the latest quarter.

While Eenadu, the No.1 daily of the state, with a TR of 1.45 crore, has recorded a marginal decline of 28,000 readers in the current quarter, the No.2 daily of the state Sakshi, has emerged the biggest gainer and the only daily to register growth in the present quarter. Sakshi has a TR of 1.38 crore, and has added 8.22 lakh readers since Q1 2010, and 3.32 lakh readers in this quarter.

But in the state capital, Sakshi, like the other top five dailies of Hyderabad, has recorded a loss of 58,000 readers. Sakshi has a TR of 7.51 lakh in Hyderabad, and is the No.2 daily there. Eenadu, the No.1 daily of the state capital, with a TR of 8.25 lakh, has lost 43,000 readers. Andhra Jyothi, Vartha and Andhra Bhoomi have lost 23,000, 37,000, and 14,000 readers in this quarter.

Tamil, the only language to have recorded a decline in South India, with a TR of 2.90 crore, has lost marginal readership of 53,000 in the current quarter. The No.1 daily of the state, Daily Thanthi, which has a TR of 1.94 crore has lost 5.50 lakh readers in the last one year, and 3.30 lakh this quarter. Dinakaran, the No.2 of the state, is the biggest loser, having registered a loss of 3.62 lakh this quarter. The No.3 daily Dinamalar, with a TR of 83.70 lakh, has lost 3.45 lakh readers.

Interestingly, Tamil dailies have gained readership in the state capital, though marginally. Any Tamil daily in Chennai has recorded a growth of 31,000 readers this quarter. But, among the top five dailies of Tamil Nadu's capital, except for Dinakaran, which has a TR of 10.06 lakh and has added marginal readership of 8,000 readers in the current quarter, all others -- Daily Thanthi, Dinamalar, Malai Malar and Dinamani -- have lost readership.

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