IRS 2010 Q3: Deccan Herald inches closer to TOI in Karnataka

Like last quarter, print dailies have done well in Karnataka in this quarter too. In fact, it is the only South Indian state where both English and language dailies have recorded gains. While Kannada dailies have added a total readership of 5.85 lakh; English dailies have gained 30,000 readers in IRS 2010 Q3.

Vijay Karnataka, with a total readership of 78.75 lakh, is the No. 1 daily of the state. It has gained 86,000 readers this time, but due to its loss in the previous quarter, the daily has lost a marginal readership of 19,000 in the last three quarters.

The No. 2 position is taken up by Prajavani, with a total readership of 68.5 lakh and a gain of 4.35 lakh readers in the latest quarter. The Kannada newspaper has been the biggest gainer of the state since Q1, having added 10.77 lakh readers in this period.

Among the six reporting centres in Karnataka, Prajavani is the top performer (with a total gain of 14.27 lakh readers in the last one year) across four centres -- Bengaluru, Belgaum, Mysore and rest of Karnataka. However, it has lost marginal readership in Hubli-Dharwad and Mangalore since IRS 2009 R2.

At No. 3, Kannada Prabha has a total readership of 25.33 lakh in this quarter. The language daily has added 4.59 lakh readers in the last two quarters, making it the second biggest gainer during this period. Kannada Prabha has added 63,000 readers in Bengaluru in the last one year, becoming the biggest gainer in the state capital.

Pushed to No. 4 by Kannada Prabha, Samyukta Karnataka has registered a gain of 25,000 readers in this quarter. The daily has a total readership of 23.33 lakh in the latest quarter, and has lost 21,000 readers in the last two quarters. In Bengaluru, however, it has added 58,000 readers in the last one year.

Udayavani is the No. 5 daily of the state, and has registered marginal growth across Hubli-Dharwad, Mangalore and Mysore in the last one year. However, it has lost sizeable readership in the rest of Karnataka. The Kannada daily has a total readership of 19.77 lakh in the latest quarter.

The first English daily to feature in the top ten list is The Times of India at No. 6, with a total readership of 8.93 lakh -- 10.84 lakh readers behind the No. 5 daily of the state (Udayavani). Though it has added marginal readers in Belgaum (5,000), Hubli-Dharwad (1,000) and Mangalore (1,000); it has lost 4,000 readers in Mysore, 41,000 in Bengaluru and 92,000 readers in the rest of Karnataka since IRS 2009 R2.

The second English daily to feature in the top ten in Karnataka is Deccan Herald, which has registered a total readership of 8.25 lakh in the latest quarter. The No. 7 daily of the state has added 65,000 readers in the last three quarters. The newspaper has lost marginal readership of 6,000 in the state capital in the last one year. In Karnataka, the English daily is only 68,000 readers behind TOI, while in Q2, 2010, the gap between the two dailies was 1.45 lakh.

At No. 8 is Sanjavani, which has lost 1.12 lakh readers since IRS 2009 R2. The Kannada daily has a total readership of 6.62 lakh in the latest quarter -- 1.63 lakh readers behind Deccan Herald. It has added 10,000 readers in Bengaluru and 4,000 in Mangalore in the last one year; but it has lost 40,000 readers in Hubli-Dharwad and 1.34 lakh readers in the rest of Karnataka during this period.

The No. 9 daily of the state, The Hindu has a total readership of 3.23 lakh this quarter. The English daily has added 11,000 readers this time, but is yet to compensate for its losses in the last quarter.

At No. 10 is the biggest loser of the state, Tarun Bharat, which has lost 1.55 lakh readers since the last quarter. The only Marathi publication among the top 10 dailies in Karnataka, it has recorded a total readership of 2.23 lakh this time. Tarun Bharat is the No. 1 daily in Belgaum with a total readership of 1.01 lakh in the latest quarter, but it has lost 46,000 readers in this reporting centre in the last one year.