Newspaper circulation
Encyclopedia
A newspaper
's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average
day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising
rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the reader. Readership figures are usually higher than circulation figures because of the assumption that a typical copy of the newspaper is read by more than one person.
In many countries, circulations are audit
ed by independent bodies such as the Audit Bureau of Circulations to assure advertisers that a given newspaper does indeed reach the number of people claimed by the publisher.
In many developed countries newspaper circulation is falling due to social and technological changes such as the availability of news on the internet. On the other hand, in some developing countries circulation is increasing as these factors are more than cancelled out by rising incomes, population, and literacy.
(WAN) publishes a list of newspapers with the largest circulation. In 2005, China topped the list in term of total newspaper circulation with 93.5 million a day, India came second with 78.8 million, followed by Japan, with 70.4 million; the United States, with 48.3 million; and Germany, with 22.1 million. Around 75 of the 100 best selling newspapers are in Asia and seven out of top ten are Japanese newspapers.
The Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun
, Asahi Shimbun
and Mainichi Shimbun
are still the largest circulated newspapers in the world. The Times of India
is the largest circulated English-language daily newspaper in the world, across all formats (Broadsheet, Compact, Berliner and Online). Reference News
(參考消息) is the most popular paper in China. The largest circulated newspapers from the United States are the Wall Street Journal and USA Today
, the latter having eclipsed the former for a period of years; but according to its own press kit, the circulation of USA Today
declined by 3 million in 2009 alone, leaving WSJ on top again.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the daily circulation of the Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda exceeded 21,500,000 in 1990, while the Soviet weekly Argumenty i Fakty
boasted a circulation of 33,500,000 in 1991.
, 317,715; Het Nieuwsblad
, 245,209; SUD Presse (group of papers focused on community specific content), 147,749; Het Belang van Limburg
, 121,428; Le Soir
, 113,780; Vers l’avenir, 109,287 (group of papers focused on community specific content); La Dernière Heure
, 107,583; De Standaard
, 104,758; Het Volk
, 77,025 and De Morgen
, 73,784.
, which, as of the six-month period ending on March 31, 2007, averaged 634,886 copies sold on Saturday, 436,694 Monday to Friday, and 442,265 on Sunday. http://www.cna-acj.ca/client/cna/ult.nsf/CCData/Toronto%20Star The second most widely read paper is Toronto-based national newspaper The Globe and Mail
, which averaged 374,000 copies on Saturdays, and 303,000 Monday to Friday. The most widely read French-language newspaper is Le Journal de Montréal
, which averaged 319,899 copies on Saturday, 267,404 Monday to Friday, and 264,733 on Sunday. Unlike in the United States, newspapers in Canada published their biggest and mostly widely read editions on Saturdays.
(with 16.0 million readers) and Dainik Bhaskar
(with 13.5 million readers), both published in Hindi
. The Times of India is the most widely read English language
newspaper (7.3 million), followed by Hindustan Times
(3.5 million),, The Hindu
(2.1 million). The New Indian Express
is another widely-read English language newspaper (1.8 million}. Malayala Manorama
newspaper which is published in Malayalam from Kerala, currently has a readership of over 9.9 million (with a circulation base of over 1.8 million copies) has the most circulation in regional languages. The latest entrant in English Newspaper industry The Hans India
an English daily from Hyderabad media house limited printed, published and distributed in Andhra Pradesh.
, 14,067,000; The Asahi Shimbun
, 12,121,000; Mainichi Shimbun
, 5,587,000; Seikyou Shimbun, 5,500,000; Nihon Keizai Shimbun
, 4,635,000; Chunichi Shimbun
/Tokyo Shimbun
,4,512,000; Tokyo Sports
, 2,425,000; Sankei Shimbun
, 2,757,000; Nikkan Sports
, 1,965,000; Hokkaido Shimbun
, 1,896,594; Sports Nippon
, 1,711,000; The Nikkan Gendai, 1,686,000; Akahata
, 1,683,000; Yukan Fuji, 1,559,000; Shizuoka Shimbun
, 1,479,000; Sankei Sports
, 1,368,000; Hochi Shimbun, 1,354,000; Daily Sports, 999,000.
, 1.021.730; Posta
, 472,519; Hürriyet
, 444,777; Sabah
, 353,815; Habertürk, 233,381; Sözcü, 213,314 www.medyatava.com.
, 3,001,822, The Daily Mail, 2,136,568 and the Daily Mirror, 1,194,097.
Newspaper circulation numbers are reported to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Best-selling papers as of March 31, 2010 in the U.S.A., according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, are the Wall Street Journal at number one with 2,092,523 copies sold daily (up 0.5% from the previous year, making it the only newspaper in the country that is actually growing in terms or readership); USA Today
at number two with 1,826,622 copies sold daily (down 13.8% from the previous year), and The New York Times
is third with a circulation of 951,063 (down 8.47% from the previous year. Overall, newspaper circulation is down 8.7% nationally compared to the previous year.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average
Average
In mathematics, an average, or central tendency of a data set is a measure of the "middle" value of the data set. Average is one form of central tendency. Not all central tendencies should be considered definitions of average....
day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the reader. Readership figures are usually higher than circulation figures because of the assumption that a typical copy of the newspaper is read by more than one person.
In many countries, circulations are audit
Audit
The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...
ed by independent bodies such as the Audit Bureau of Circulations to assure advertisers that a given newspaper does indeed reach the number of people claimed by the publisher.
In many developed countries newspaper circulation is falling due to social and technological changes such as the availability of news on the internet. On the other hand, in some developing countries circulation is increasing as these factors are more than cancelled out by rising incomes, population, and literacy.
World newspapers with the largest circulation
The World Association of NewspapersWorld Association of Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries...
(WAN) publishes a list of newspapers with the largest circulation. In 2005, China topped the list in term of total newspaper circulation with 93.5 million a day, India came second with 78.8 million, followed by Japan, with 70.4 million; the United States, with 48.3 million; and Germany, with 22.1 million. Around 75 of the 100 best selling newspapers are in Asia and seven out of top ten are Japanese newspapers.
The Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun
Yomiuri Shimbun
The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five national newspapers in Japan; the other four are the Asahi Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the Sankei Shimbun...
, Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
and Mainichi Shimbun
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by .-History:The history of the Mainichi Shimbun begins with founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was founded first, in 1872. The Mainichi claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper...
are still the largest circulated newspapers in the world. The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
is the largest circulated English-language daily newspaper in the world, across all formats (Broadsheet, Compact, Berliner and Online). Reference News
Reference News
Reference News , first published on November 7, 1931, is a newspaper daily which has the largest circulation in mainland China with 3 million. It is published by Xinhua News Agency...
(參考消息) is the most popular paper in China. The largest circulated newspapers from the United States are the Wall Street Journal and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, the latter having eclipsed the former for a period of years; but according to its own press kit, the circulation of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
declined by 3 million in 2009 alone, leaving WSJ on top again.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the daily circulation of the Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda exceeded 21,500,000 in 1990, while the Soviet weekly Argumenty i Fakty
Argumenty i fakty
Argumenty i Fakty is a weekly newspaper based in Moscow and a publishing house in Russia and worldwide. As of 2008, it is owned by Promsvyazbank and the newspaper is edited by Nikolay Zyatkov.- History :...
boasted a circulation of 33,500,000 in 1991.
Belgium
The Belgian institution CIM (Centre for Information about Media) publishes national circulation figures for all written, audiovisual and web-based media in Belgium. The top ten best selling papers according to their website http://www.cim.be/auth/en/d/dp.html are Het Laatste NieuwsHet Laatste Nieuws
Het Laatste Nieuws is a Dutch language newspaper based in Brussels, Belgium. It was founded by Julius Hoste Sr. on 7 June 1888. It is now part of De Persgroep, and has a circulation of 292,410 copies, making it the most popular newspaper in Flanders and Belgium.- Comics :During World War II, The...
, 317,715; Het Nieuwsblad
Het Nieuwsblad
Het Nieuwsblad is a Belgian newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics, culture, economics, lifestyle, society and sports.-Mission statement:...
, 245,209; SUD Presse (group of papers focused on community specific content), 147,749; Het Belang van Limburg
Het Belang van Limburg
Het Belang van Limburg is a Belgian regional newspaper. The newspaper was founded in 1933 as a merger of a few weekly magazines.- External links :* *...
, 121,428; Le Soir
Le Soir
Le Soir is a Berliner Format Belgian newspaper. Le Soir was founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel. It is the most popular Francophone newspaper in Belgium, and considered a newspaper of record.-Editorial stance:...
, 113,780; Vers l’avenir, 109,287 (group of papers focused on community specific content); La Dernière Heure
La Dernière Heure
La Dernière Heure and "Les Sports" is a French general daily newspaper in Belgium....
, 107,583; De Standaard
De Standaard
De Standaard is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Corelio . Circulation was about 102.280 in 2007. It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Socialist Flemish daily De Morgen...
, 104,758; Het Volk
Het Volk (newspaper)
Het Volk was a Belgian newspaper that focused on "news with a human undertone".-Mission statement:"You will find what you are looking for in Het Volk, the only newspaper where people really make the news. You will read everything on small and big events in your neighborhoods, your cities and far...
, 77,025 and De Morgen
De Morgen
De Morgen is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. It originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers Vooruit and Volksgazet ....
, 73,784.
Canada
The most widely read paper in the country is the Toronto StarToronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, which, as of the six-month period ending on March 31, 2007, averaged 634,886 copies sold on Saturday, 436,694 Monday to Friday, and 442,265 on Sunday. http://www.cna-acj.ca/client/cna/ult.nsf/CCData/Toronto%20Star The second most widely read paper is Toronto-based national newspaper The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, which averaged 374,000 copies on Saturdays, and 303,000 Monday to Friday. The most widely read French-language newspaper is Le Journal de Montréal
Le Journal de Montréal
Le Journal de Montréal is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and is the largest-circulation French-language newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Péladeau in 1964, it is owned by the Sun Media division of Quebecor Media. It is also Canada's largest tabloid...
, which averaged 319,899 copies on Saturday, 267,404 Monday to Friday, and 264,733 on Sunday. Unlike in the United States, newspapers in Canada published their biggest and mostly widely read editions on Saturdays.
India
The 2010 Indian Readership Survey findings shows that the largest read local language newspapers to be Dainik JagranDainik Jagran
Dainik Jagran is a Hindi language daily broadsheet newspaper in India. According to the IRS Q1 2010, Dainik Jagran ranks No. 1 among the dailies with a Total Readership of 54,254,000.-Overview:...
(with 16.0 million readers) and Dainik Bhaskar
Dainik Bhaskar
Dainik Bhaskar is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper published by D B Corp Ltd.. It was started in year 1958 from Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh...
(with 13.5 million readers), both published in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. The Times of India is the most widely read English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
newspaper (7.3 million), followed by Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
(3.5 million),, The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
(2.1 million). The New Indian Express
The New Indian Express
The New Indian Express is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as the Indian Express, under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu. In 1991, following the death of the then owner Ramnath Goenka, the Goenka...
is another widely-read English language newspaper (1.8 million}. Malayala Manorama
Malayala Manorama
Malayala Manorama is a daily news paper, in Malayalam language, published in the state of Kerala, India. It was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1890, and currently has a readership of over 16 million . The Malayalam word "manorama" roughly translates to "entertainer"...
newspaper which is published in Malayalam from Kerala, currently has a readership of over 9.9 million (with a circulation base of over 1.8 million copies) has the most circulation in regional languages. The latest entrant in English Newspaper industry The Hans India
The Hans India
The Hans India is a daily newspaper in India written entirely in English. The newspaper was founded in 2011. It has editions in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Warangal. The chief editor of the newspaper is K Ramachandra Murthy...
an English daily from Hyderabad media house limited printed, published and distributed in Andhra Pradesh.
Japan
The 2004 circulation figures for the morning and evening editions of Japan's largest newspapers: Yomiuri ShimbunYomiuri Shimbun
The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five national newspapers in Japan; the other four are the Asahi Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the Sankei Shimbun...
, 14,067,000; The Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
, 12,121,000; Mainichi Shimbun
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by .-History:The history of the Mainichi Shimbun begins with founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was founded first, in 1872. The Mainichi claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper...
, 5,587,000; Seikyou Shimbun, 5,500,000; Nihon Keizai Shimbun
Nihon Keizai Shimbun
is one of the largest media corporations in Japan. Nikkei specializes in publishing financial, business and industry news. Its main news publications include:* Nihon Keizai Shimbun , a leading economic newspaper....
, 4,635,000; Chunichi Shimbun
Chunichi Shimbun
The is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by . It is the owner of the Chunichi Dragons baseball team, and is also known as the main organizer of a famous international gymnastics event, the Chunichi Cup...
/Tokyo Shimbun
Tokyo Shimbun
The Tokyo Shimbun is a Japanese newspaper published by The Chunichi Shimbun Company. The group publishes newspapers under the brand name of The Tokyo Shimbun in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and under The Chunichi Shimbun in the Nagoya Metropolitan Area. The group’s combined daily morning...
,4,512,000; Tokyo Sports
Tokyo Sports
is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1958.- See also :*Tokyo Sports Film Award*Yellow journalism*Supermarket tabloid*Junk food news- External links :* http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp Official Website...
, 2,425,000; Sankei Shimbun
Sankei Shimbun
is a daily newspaper in Japan published by the . It has the sixth highest circulation for a newspaper in Japan, and is considered as one of the five "national" newspapers...
, 2,757,000; Nikkan Sports
Nikkan Sports
is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1946.It has a circulation of 1,965,000, and is an affiliate newspaper of Asahi Shimbun.-Companies and regions:...
, 1,965,000; Hokkaido Shimbun
Hokkaido Shimbun
The , which is often abbreviated as , is a Japanese language daily newspaper published mainly in Hokkaidō, Japan by . As of November 2006, its morning edition has a circulation of 1,208,175. It was first published in Sapporo in 1887.- External links :*...
, 1,896,594; Sports Nippon
Sports Nippon
is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1948.It is an affiliate newspaper of Mainichi Shimbun.- External links :...
, 1,711,000; The Nikkan Gendai, 1,686,000; Akahata
Akahata
is the daily organ of the Japanese Communist Party in the form of a national newspaper. Started in 1928, Akahata has a 16-page daily edition and a larger 36-page Sunday edition....
, 1,683,000; Yukan Fuji, 1,559,000; Shizuoka Shimbun
Shizuoka Shimbun
is a Japanese language daily newspaper. As of April 2008, it had a combined morning and evening circulation of 717,000.It started publication as Shizuoka Shinbun in December 1941 following the merger of six other newspapers.-External links:**...
, 1,479,000; Sankei Sports
Sankei Sports
is a Japanese language daily sports newspaper published by Sankei Shimbun. In 2002, it had a circulation of 1,360,000. The newspaper is known by its nickname .-Relating sports teams:*Kanto - Tokyo Yakult Swallows...
, 1,368,000; Hochi Shimbun, 1,354,000; Daily Sports, 999,000.
Turkey
The top 6 best selling papers are: ZamanZaman (newspaper)
Zaman is a major, high-circulation daily newspaper in Turkey. It was founded in 1986 and was the first Turkish daily to go online in 1995. It contains national , international, business and other news...
, 1.021.730; Posta
Posta (newspaper)
Posta is a mass market Turkish daily newspaper, with the second highest circulation in Turkey. It was founded in 1995 and has a daily circulation of approximately 516,000...
, 472,519; Hürriyet
Hürriyet
-External links:* * ** * *...
, 444,777; Sabah
Sabah (newspaper)
Sabah is a popular Turkish daily newspaper, with a circulation of around 330,000 as of 2011. Its name means "morning" in the Turkish language originating from Arabic...
, 353,815; Habertürk, 233,381; Sözcü, 213,314 www.medyatava.com.
United Kingdom
Best-selling papers as of January, 2011, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, are The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, 3,001,822, The Daily Mail, 2,136,568 and the Daily Mirror, 1,194,097.
United States
The heyday of the newspaper industry was the 1940s, but the percentage of Americans reading newspapers began to decline with the increased competition from radio, television and, more recently, the Internet. A growing population helped the absolute circulation numbers continue to increase until the 1970s, where it remained stable until the 1990s, when absolute circulation numbers began declining.Newspaper circulation numbers are reported to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Best-selling papers as of March 31, 2010 in the U.S.A., according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, are the Wall Street Journal at number one with 2,092,523 copies sold daily (up 0.5% from the previous year, making it the only newspaper in the country that is actually growing in terms or readership); USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
at number two with 1,826,622 copies sold daily (down 13.8% from the previous year), and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
is third with a circulation of 951,063 (down 8.47% from the previous year. Overall, newspaper circulation is down 8.7% nationally compared to the previous year.
External links
- BPA Worldwide: Media Auditing
- The State of the News Media 2004 form journalism.org [Dead Link 29.12.2010]
- Audit Bureau of Circulations web site
- The Front Pages of the Main Newspapers of the World
- Editor & Publisher Yearbook On-line with circulation statistics
- Searchable database of Canadian newspaper circulation figures from the Canadian Newspaper Association