IRS 2009 R1: Lokmat, ABP, Malayala Manorama & Punya Nagari register growth among language dailies - Presented by MINT

The Marathi daily, Lokmat has had the maximum growth of 7.19 lakh readers since the last round

According to Round 1 of IRS 2009, the most widely read regional language daily is Lokmat with a total readership of 2.06 crore. The Marathi daily is also the one to have recorded maximum growth over the last round. It has added 7.19 lakh new readers. With this growth, the Marathi daily has regained the readers, it had lost in the previous round (IRS, Round 1, 2008) when its total readership was 2.06 crore.

Tamil daily Daily Thanthi holds the No.2 position among the regional language dailies. It has lost around 1.19 lakh readers over the last round (IRS Round 2, 2008). Its current readership figure stands at 2.04 crore. The daily has been on a decline since (IRS Round 1, 2008) and has lost nearly 2 lakh readers since then.

Dinakaran, a Tamil daily, is the third most read language daily with a readership of 1.66 crore, losing 1.92 lakh readers compared to the last round. This Tamil newspaper has also been on a decline since (IRS Round 1, 2008), when its total readership was 1.7 crore.

The Bengali daily Ananda Bazaar Patrika, at No.4, has added 1.21 lakh readers from the last round and its total readership as per 2009 R1 is 1.55 crore – almost at par with its readership in IRS 2008, R1 (1,55,69,000). In the previous round of IRS, the Bengali daily had lost 1.76 lakh readers, but in the current round it has compensated that by adding around 1.21 lakh readers.

Telugu daily Eenadu, at No.5, has witnessed the maximum decline in this round. Eenadu has recorded a total readership of 1.39 crore having lost around 4.2 lakh readers. Its readership has declined for the second time. In fact the readership of the Telugu daily is even lower than what it used to be in IRS 2007, R2 (1.42 crore.) In Round 1 of IRS 2008, it gained around 5.02 lakh readers, but in the subsequent two rounds of IRS, it lost around 7 lakh readers in the last two rounds.

At No. 6 is Malayala Manorama, with 1.25 crore readers. The Malayalam daily has added 4.07 lakh readers over the last round – which is closer to the total readership of 1.26 crore it claimed in IRS, Round 1, 2008.

Daily Sakal’s readership in this round stands at 1.13 crore, losing 2.56 lakh readers from the last round. In fact, in the last one year, the No. 7 daily among regional language newspapers has lost around 9 lakh readers. Its total readership in 2008 R1 was 1.22 crore.

Tamil daily Dinamalar has seen a loss of 3.95 lakh readers over the last round. Its readership in this round stands at 1 crore – around 9 lakh less than what it used to be a year ago.

Marathi daily Punya Nagari has seen an upswing in its readership. From 95.42 lakh readers in the last round, the count has gone up to 99.43 lakh – a gain of more than 4 lakh readers.

Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi has lost 2.7 lakh readers from the last round. Its readership as recorded in this round stands at 94.44 lakh. It has lost as many as 6.56 lakh readers since Round 1 of 2008.