Led by the growth of Dainik Bhaskar, the average issue readership (AIR) of ‘Any Hindi’ daily has reached 1.08 crore in IRS 2011 Q1, a growth of 3.77 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, growth of any English daily has registered an AIR of 3.04 lakh, led by The Times of India, which has added 45,000 readers during the year.

Rajasthan Patrika is the clear leader in the state with an AIR of 68.71 lakh, a growth of 4.22 per cent. It is followed by Dainik Bhaskar, which has seen a growth of 5.2 per cent in AIR as compared to last year, adding 3.12 lakh readers – the highest growth among the top ten dailies. Currently, the AIR of Dainik Bhaskar stands at 63.12 lakh. With an AIR of 4.95 lakh, Dainik Navjyoti is the third most read daily in the state.

English daily The Times of India is ranked 4th in the state with an AIR of 2.26 lakh, a growth of 24.86 per cent. However, way behind of TOI in AIR numbers, Hindustan Times and DNA have gained pace in the state, taking their AIR to 51,000 and 37,000, respectively.

Hindi daily Punjab Kesari is placed fifth in the state with an AIR of 1.92 lakh. Closely following is Daily News, which has recorded an AIR of 1.71 lakh. News Today is the only daily among the top ten that has reported a decline in AIR as compared to the corresponding period last year. Another Hindi daily, Rashtradoot, has got an AIR of 1.12 lakh in IRS 2011 Q1.

Even as Kannada dailies continue to dominate the Karnataka newspaper market, average issue readership (AIR) for any English daily has gone up by 30 per cent in the state, adding 2.79 lakh readers, as compared to last year. Meanwhile, ‘Any Marathi’ daily and ‘Any Tamil’ daily have been witnessing decline in AIR, reporting a combined loss in AIR of 62,000 in a year.

Led by the growth of Prajavani, which has added 11.62 lakh readers, ‘Any Kannada’ daily has gained an AIR of 89.87 lakh in the state. All seven Kannada dailies in the list of most popular dailies (as per the highest AIR numbers) in Karnataka have seen growth in their AIR numbers as per IRS 2011 Q1 data.

Meanwhile, a close fight can be seen among the top English dailies in the state with The Times of India reporting an AIR of 5.35 lakh (a growth of 19.69 per cent). Deccan Herald follows closely with a growth of 37.79 per cent, gaining an AIR of 4.23 lakh. The third most popular English daily in the state is Bangalore Mirror with an AIR of 1.60 lakh in IRS 2011 Q1.

Despite the growth seen in the AIR (average issue readership) of topline dailies, Eenadu and Sakshi, in Andhra Pradesh, ‘Any Telugu’ daily has seen a decline in AIR of almost 3 per cent as per the IRS 2011 Q1, as compared to last year. Meanwhile, all the top ten English dailies in the state have seen decline in their AIR numbers. With the loss of an AIR of 10,000, ‘Any English’ daily has gained an average issue readership of 11.15 lakh in the state.

While, Telugu daily Sakshi has added 4.24 lakh readers, registering an AIR of 49.88 lakh in IRS 2011 Q1, Andhra Jyoti has seen decline as it loses 4.02 lakh readers, reporting an AIR of 20.04 lakh. Eenadu is the most read daily in the state with an AIR of 59.08 lakh, a marginal growth of 0.8 per cent. Losing a massive 8.79 lakh readers, Telugu daily Vartha’s AIR has come down to 3.62 lakh in IRS 2011 Q1 from 12.41 lakh last year.

Andhra Bhoomi has also lost readers despite its AIR going up to 2.65 lakh. On the other hand, Andhra Prabha has reported positive growth in its AIR which stands at 1.21 lakh, a growth of 18.63 per cent.

Meanwhile, ‘Any English’ daily has witnessed a decline in readership, registering an AIR of 11.15 lakh, down from 11.25 lakh last year. Deccan Chronicle is the most read English daily in the state with an AIR of 7.35 lakh, a decline of 2.39 per cent. The Hindu and the Times of India are among the English dailies to have made their entry into the list of top ten dailies in the state. While The Hindu has recorded an AIR of 2.97 lakh, The Times of India has seen an AIR of 1.12 lakh.

AIR of ‘Any Urdu’ daily has grown by 6.67 per cent in the state, reporting an AIR of 1.44 lakh in IRS 2011 Q1, up from 1.35 lakh last year.

Led by the growth of Hindustan and Prabhat Khabar, with both adding nearly 4 lakh readers in a year, the AIR (average issue readership) of ‘Any Hindi’ daily in Bihar has reached 63.96 lakh as per the Indian Readership Survey 2011 Q1 data, a growth of 7.59 per cent as compared to last year. Meanwhile, in percentage terms, English dailies have grown by 4.15 per cent, however, adding just 10,000 more readers in actual terms.

Barring Rashtriya Sahara and Inext, all Hindi dailies in the list of top ten dailies have witnessed their AIR numbers heading north. Hindustan seems to be a clear leader in the state reporting an AIR of 47.29 lakh, adding 2.54 lakh readers during the year. At second position, Dainik Jagran has maintained its growth, adding 42,000 readers, which takes its AIR to 25.68 lakh. Meanwhile, Prabhat Khabar has added 1.63 lakh new readers as its AIR shoots up to 3.36 lakh, a massive growth of 94.22 per cent. However, there is no change in the AIR of Hindi daily Aj, which remains at 2.69 lakh in IRS 2011 Q1, the same as the corresponding period of last year.

Meanwhile, there was much cheer for the English dailies in the state, with ‘Any English’ daily reporting an AIR of 2.51 lakh, up from 2.41 lakh last year. Adding 5,000 new readers, The Times of India has registered an AIR of 1.51 lakh, a growth of 3.42 per cent as compared to last year. Hindustan Times has recorded an AIR of 84,000, adding 4,000 readers. Interestingly, adding 14,000 readers, The Hindu has emerged as the highest gainer in terms of AIR among the top ten, registering an AIR of 23,000. This apart, the Economic Times has doubled its AIR from 8,000 last year to 16,000 in IRS 2011 Q1.

Except Dharitri and Nav Bharat, all dailies in the top ten list have reflected a stark picture in Orissa. All English dailies surveyed among the top ten have reported negative growth in average issue readership (AIR), with the AIR of ‘Any English’ daily reported at 3.07 lakh, a decline of 10.23 per cent compared to last year.

Meanwhile, losing AIR of 1.24 lakh, ‘Any Oriya’ daily has registered an AIR of 35.50 lakh. With a decline of 6,000 readers, Hindi dailies too provided no respite in the Orissa market.

Dharitri, the lone daily that has reported rise in average issue readership by 6.50 per cent, is giving close competition to Sambad that has recorded decline of almost 4 per cent in AIR. While Sambad has recorded AIR of 15.81 lakh, Dharitri reached at 14.42 lakh in recent IRS results.

Samaj and The Samaya both have registered decline in readership losing AIR of 1.77 lakh, combined. English dailies, the Times of India, the New Indian Express, the Hindu and the Telegraph, all have witnessed decline in the average issue readership as all four lose 58,000 readers combined.

Meanwhile, Hindi daily Dainik Jagran had reported decline of 13.95 per cent in readership, however, with growth of 4.76 per cent Nav Bharat has got AIR of 22,000 in Orissa.

With the rise in average issue readership (AIR) for most of the dailies, Marathi dailies have maintained lead in Maharashtra followed by English dailies, however far behind in the race. The leader in the space is Marathi daily Lokmat with an AIR of 73.05 lakh, a marginal decline of 0.76 per cent compare to the period last year.

Led by the highest growth in AIR (in terms of actual numbers) by adding more than 5 lakh readers, Sakal has reported an AIR of 45.11 lakh. It is followed by Pudhari with steady, however, marginal decline of 2.33 per cent. Meanwhile, English daily the Times of India has seen a second highest growth (after Daily Sakal) in AIR adding 2.25 lakh readers, has accounted an AIR of 20.50 lakh.

Losing nearly 4 lakh readers, readership of Punya Nagari has headed south reporting AIR 18.10 lakh, decline of 18.47 per cent – further paving path for the one step higher ranking for TOI. Registering marginal growth of 2.41 per cent, Maharashtra Times has maintained its positive growth. Loksatta, the No7 daily of the state, has also been losing average issue readership by 7.52 per cent over last year, have garnered AIR of 9.84 lakh.

Among the talks of Marathi and English, Gujarati daily Gujrat Samachar has been able to make its place reporting an AIR of 8.28 lakh, a robust growth of 26.61 per cent. The last two dailies, in the list of top ten dallies in Maharashtra, Mumbai Mirror and Deshonatti have also reported a declining trend with AIR of both the dailies have headed south, whopping decline for later has been reported as it loses 2.34 lakh readers in a year.

Declining trends in average issue readership (AIR) has pushed Hindi daily Amar Ujala to second position in the state as English Daily Excelsior replaced it reporting an AIR of 1.04 lakh. However, overall in the state Hindi dailies have been able to attract more readers as AIR of any Hindi daily reported at 1.60 lakh, a decline of 5.88 per cent, followed by an AIR of 1.10 lakh of any English daily.

With 15 per cent decline, Amar Ujala has reported highest decline with an AIR of 1.02 lakh, down from 1.20 lakh last year. Amar Ujala’s decline comes as a gain of a ranking for Daily Excelsior getting an AIR of 1.04 lakh, a rise of 2.97 per cent. Meanwhile, in percentage terms, however, Punjab Kesari and Dainik Jagran have witnessed rise of 5.13 and 8 per cent in AIR, but in actual terms each of them have added 2000 readers.

English daily Hindustan Times accounted average issue readership of 6000 similar to last year’s AIR. On the other hand, the Times of India has reported decline by 33.33 per cent, registering AIR 6000. English dailies The Hindu and the Economic Times have reported their first survey in the state recording AIR of 3000 and 2000, respectively. Meanwhile, the Tribune has declined by 25 per cent garnering AIR of 3,000 as per the recent IRS results.