Move is on as Irish Examiner readership surges 16,000 higher

THE Irish Examiner is the country’s fastest growing daily newspaper, continuing to attract thousands of new readers in a hugely competitive market, new research reveals. This is the second year running in which the paper achieved big increases in readership.

The latest Joint National Readership Survey (JNRS) figures released today shows the Irish Examiner far outstripping The Irish Times in growth terms, while the Irish Independent continues to lose readers, despite its expensive strategy of printing both broadsheet and tabloid editions.

The JNRS figures for the 12-month period July 2005 to June 2006 show the Irish Examiner’s readership growing by a highly impressive 16,000 from 243,000 to 259,000. In the same period, The Irish Times added 6,000 readers, while the Irish Independent lost 14,000. Between July 2004 and June 2006, the Irish Examiner gained a massive 52,000 while the Irish Independent suffered a drop-off of 41,000.

The JNRS is based on face-to-face interviews with a national sample of 7,000 people over the year. Interviewees must be over 15 and selected at random from the electoral register.

Irish Examiner chief executive Tom Murphy said the latest figures were a great result for the newspaper and the highly committed team that makes it the success it is, with more and more readers coming on board every year.

“We are operating in one of the most competitive newspaper markets in the world, and to achieve this level of growth is an excellent achievement. The figures are also very good news for our advertisers because of the strength of our loyal readership,” he said.

The paper continues to have the highest percentage of loyal readers of any national daily newspaper, broadsheet or tabloid, with eight out of every 10 readers of the Irish Examiner reading no other daily paper.

And the good news for the newspaper does not stop there. Readership growth has come across all key age categories, with an additional 13,000 young readers in the 15 to 34-year-old age bracket and a further 8,000 in the high-spending 35 to 44-year-old age group.

Similarly, the paper has gained readers across all key socio-economic groups, including a 10% rise (11,000 readers) in the sought-after ABC 1 sector.

Advertisers, in particular, will note the Irish Examiner’s continuing stranglehold of the affluent Munster market, where it grew readership by a further 15,000 — 190,000 more readers than The Irish Times, and 104,000 more than the Irish Independent.

While the competition in the industry has been cut-throat in recent years, it became even more-so earlier this year with the launch of the cut-price Irish Daily Mail, which has spent millions to achieve market share. As the paper was only launched seven months ago, no readership data is available for the period.

However, industry sources said it was likely the Mail’s entry to an already crowded market contributed to the readership losses at the Independent and The Star, which saw its readership drop by 15,000.

Most of the sundays saw their figures rise, with the notable exception of Ireland on Sunday, which has haemorrhaged 23% of its readership against a backdrop of losses amounting to tens of millions of euro, since the title was bought by British media giant Associated Newspapers five years ago.

The JNRS report shows young people continue to choose the printed word for their daily news and entertainment, according to National Newspaper of Ireland spokesperson Frank Cullen.

Some 89% of Ireland’s under-25s (570,000) regularly read newspapers, while 94% of those with home internet access are also regular newspaper readers, he said.

“Not so long ago we were being told that the internet and other new media would bring about the demise of newspaper-reading, especially among young people. These figures clearly show that the opposite is true,” Mr Cullen said. For the first time, readership has surpassed three million with 3.2 million Irish adults regularly reading newspapers.