<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><b>IRS 2006 Round 2:</b></font> ‘The Times of India’ rules the roost amongst English dailies

Going by the findings of the IRS Round 2, the top three English dailies have witnessed no change in their hierarchy as compared to IRS R1 on the basis of their average issue readership. ‘The Times of India’ (‘TOI’) has once again topped the list of English dailies with a readership of 69.2 lakhs. However, its readership has declined by 1.64 lakhs since R1.

Following on its heels is ‘Hindustan Times’, with a readership of 35 lakhs, which is more or less the same as in R1 (when its readership stood at 35.08 lakhs). Coming in third is ‘The Hindu’, with a readership of 25.7 lakhs, a decline from 27.97 lakhs in R1.

The fourth and fifth positions have been interchanged in the IRS R2. ‘The Telegraph’, which was at number five in R1 (readership: 10.82 lakhs), has clocked in at number four this time, with a readership of 10.01 lakhs. Meanwhile, ‘Deccan Chronicle’ has gone down one rank. It has secured fifth rank this time with a readership of 9.7 lakhs, as opposed to rank four in R1 with 11.32 lakh readers.

‘The Economic Times’ has maintained the same rank it got in R1: rank six. It has managed a readership of eight lakhs; its R1 readership was 8.68 lakhs. ‘Mumbai Mirror’ is a new entrant this time, at rank seven, with a readership of 7.5 lakhs. ‘New Indian Express’ comes in at rank eight, with a readership of 6.2 lakhs. This is one rank down from R1 for the daily, when its readership stood at 7.87 lakhs.

'Mid-Day’ is the next in line at rank nine, with a readership of six lakhs. This is a decline in readership from R1 (7.37 lakhs).

'Deccan Herald' has secured rank 10, with a readership of 5.42 lakhs. In R1, it stood at rank nine with a readership of 6.04 lakhs.

Interestingly, 'The Statesman' has been ousted from the top ten list of English dailies, having secured a readership of 3.3 lakhs in R2.

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