IRS 2011, Q3: Six of top 10 publications register decline in AIR

Dainik Bhaskar and Daily Thanthi are among the few publications to have recorded growth. Dainik Bhaskar has increased its AIR by 4.95 lakh, while Daily Thanthi has grown by 1.6 lakh readers.

Dainik Jagran continues to grow further having gained 65,000 average issue readers in the Q3, 2011 of IRS. The Hindi daily had gained 4.83 lakh in the last quarter. In Q3, 2010, Dainik Jagran's AIR increased by 25,000 and in the last quarter (Q4) of 2010, it added more than a lakh readers. However, all this growth was levelled in the Q2, 2011, when it lost 1.56 lakh readers. The newspaper's current AIR stands at 1.64 crore.

At No. 2 Dainik Bhaskar has had a good fortune this time as well. It has added around 4.95 lakh average issue readers in Q3, 2011. In the previous round, the newspaper had added 1.58 lakh readers. The Hindi daily's AIR has increased by 13.66 lakh readers in the last five quarters. Its current AIR stands at 1.48 crore - 28 lakh more than Hindustan. This quarter, Dainik Bhaskar has recorded a 5 per cent growth in AIR.

Hindustan at No.3 has added a marginal 48,000 readers to its 1.2 crore average issue readers. In the previous quarter, it had added 1.75 lakh average issue readers. The Hindi daily has had a consistent growth quarter on quarter, and in the last one year, it has around 18.5 lakh readers - a growth rate of 19 per cent. This is the highest rate of growth for any publication in the last one year. From 1.01 crore average issue readers in Q2, 2010, the newspaper has increased its readership base to 1.20 crore in the current quarter.

Malayala Manorama comes in next with an average issue readership of 99.12 lakh. The Malayalam daily has lost around 50,000 readers in the current round. The fourth most-read daily in the country had a gain in AIR of 24,000 in the last quarter. In the previous four quarters, the newspaper had added 1.21 lakh average issue readers, but the loss of 50,000 readers has affected this growth spree. In fact, it is 15,000 readers short of what it was in Q3, 2010 when it had gained 86,000 readers.

Amar Ujala, which had added 1.44 lakh average issue readers in the last quarter, has lost around 55,000 readers in the current one. Even then the newspaper is more than 4 lakh readers plus than what it claimed a year ago. It has been recording a consistent growth quarter on quarter. Its average issue readership now stands at 88.36 lakh while Q2, 2010, the figure was 84.17 lakhs.

The Times of India is the only English daily to feature among top 10 publications. The world's most-read English daily had increased its AIR by 3.83 lakhs in the previous four quarters but lost a marginal 4,000 readers in the current quarter.

Even in the previous quarter, it had grown by 29,000 average issue readers. It's AIR in Q3, 2011 is 74.67 lakh while in Q2, 2010 it was 70.88.

Daily Thanthi, which lost close to four lakh average issue readers in the last two rounds of 2010, has been recording growth, this year. In the first two quarters of 2011, the Tamil daily had added 2.73 lakh readers and in the current quarter (Q#), it has added 1.57 lakh readers - this compensating for the loss it had incurred. Daily Thanthi's AIR is 45,000 more than what it was Q2, 2010. It has the highest rate of growth after Dainik Bhaskar in the current quarter. The No. 1 Tamil Daily's AIR is 74.47 lakh.

Lokmat, the no.1 Marathi daily, has lost 1.57 lakh readers in the current quarter which means it is little ahead of what it was in Q2, 2010. The newspaper had gained over 4 lakh readers in Q3, 2010 but has been losing readers since then except for previous round when it had added one lakh readers. In the next two quarters (Q4, 2010 and Q1, 2011), it lost three lakh readers. Its AIR in the present quarter is 74.38 lakh.

At No. 9, Rajasthan Patrika has lost a marginal 23,000 readers in Q3, 2011. The newspaper AIR has been on a roller coaster for the last few quarters. It had lost 92,000 readers in Q2, 2011 which was after it had gained more than three lakh average issue readers in Q3, 2010. It is to be noted that the readership figures do not include that of Patrika (the newspaper is published from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh by this name).

The Malayalam daily, Mathrubhumi had gained 2.24 lakh average issue readers in the last one year, but lost one lakh readers in the Q2, 2011 and another 60,000 readers in Q3, 2011. The newspaper's current AIR stands at 66.3 lakh.

(Total readership includes any reader who has read any of the last six issues; whereas average issue readership includes only readers who have read the last issue.)