Irish Examiner bucks trend by gaining readers

The Irish Examiner bucked the national trend for daily newspapers by increasing readership in 2011.

New Joint National Readership Survey (JNRS) figures for last year show that this newspaper’s readership grew by 3%, or 6,000 extra readers. The Irish Examiner was the only daily broadsheet newspaper in Ireland to increase its readership in 2011. The newspaper’s readership averaged out at 181,000 readers a day but, boosted by an exciting new Weekend package, climbed to almost a quarter of a million (240,000) on Saturdays.

The Irish Mirror was the only other newspaper to gain readers during 2011, with the Irish Independent and Irish Times suffering significant losses, down 62,000 (12%) and 29,000 (9%) readers respectively. The Irish Daily Star lost 12,000 readers (3%), the Irish Daily Mail was down 3,000 (2%) and The Sun was down 1%.

Irish Examiner editor Tim Vaughan described the readership increase as a “remarkable achievement” at a difficult time for the industry.

“This is a very welcome acknowledgement of our commitment to quality journalism relevant to our readers,” Mr Vaughan said. “We are constantly looking at ways to improve the newspaper, with new initiatives in the pipeline. The readership increase is also a very positive indicator for the newspaper’s loyal advertisers,” he said.

National Newspapers of Ireland co-ordinating director Frank Cullen said: “We’re very encouraged by our readership profile among younger people... it’s very pleasing to see that newspapers have maintained their popularity and relevance, even among today’s digital generation.”

The Irish Examiner maintains its dominant position in Munster, where it continues to outstrip the combined readership of the Irish Independent and Irish Times by 12,000. The Irish Examiner also added to its traditional strong readership base in Cork, attracting 14,000 additional readers. Reader loyalty remains a core strength of the Irish Examiner, with 69% not reading any other daily title.