Showing growth from an AIR (average issue readership) of 171.23 Lac in Quarter 3 to an AIR of 174.02 Lac in Quarter 4, the year 2010 has proven to be positive for English daily publications in the country. The IRS 2010 data has shown growth for English dailies across quarter, including the recently released Quarter 4. The top tier remains unruffled and seven of the top ten publications have grown in readership this quarter.
At an all India level, The Times of India continues to be the country’s leading English daily. The consolidated figure for TOI for all editions has shown a quarter on quarter (QOQ) growth, rising from an AIR of 70.35 Lac in Q1, to 70.88 Lac in Q2 to 72.54 Lac in Q3 and finally to an AIR of 74.24 Lac in Q4.
The Hindustan Times has ensured a firm grip on the second place. The all-edition numbers for HT also boasts of a healthy 2010, where it began with an AIR of 34.67 Lac in Q1 and ended the year with an AIR figure of 35.92 Lac in Q4.
The third spot is claimed by The Hindu, which while has seen a growth from the last quarter (21.05 Lac to 21.15 Lac), has seen a fall in AIR when compared to the first two quarters of 2010.
The Telegraph comes at number four with an AIR of 12.38 Lac in Q4, which is a significant rise from the 11.97 Lac AIR in Q3. On the whole, the daily has seen a good year with the highest recorded growth in the last quarter.
The Deccan Chronicle and The Economic Times, in that order, come in at the fifth and sixth position, both recording a negligible decline this round and hence maintaining the margin on both sides of the spectrum, settling at 10.73 Lac AIR and 7.97 Lac AIR respectively in Q4.
Two dailies that have recorded a visible decline this quarter are DNA and Mumbai Mirror, continuing to hold their ranks at position seven and eight respectively. DNA (all editions) has settled at 7.5 Lac in Q4 from the AIR of 7.68 Lac in Q3, while Mumbai Mirror has seen a fall in AIR from 7.56 Lac in the Q3 to 7.11 Lac this round. The number is quite a significant fall when compared to the AIR number of Q1, which was at 8.31 Lac.
The final two spots in the top 10 dailies in Q4 are claimed by The Tribune and The New Indian Express. Both English dailies have seen their highest growth in the last quarter. The Tribune closed the year at 6.19 Lac AIR from 5.94 Lac AIR in Q3. The New Indian Express has managed an AIR of 5.29 Lac, which even though is higher than its numbers in Q3 number of 5.06 Lac, is still lower than the Q1 AIR figure of 5.37 Lac.
In the next 10 publications, the all India editions of Deccan Herald, Assam Tribune, The Indian Express and Mint have seen significant growth in the last quarter, while the English versions for Mid-Day, Business Standard and the Hitavada, Nagpur have recorded a decline in numbers.
