Ireland on Sunday
Ireland on Sunday was launched on September 21st, 1997, with a stated circulation target of 60,000.
Initial indications point to a successful launch, with the first issue (print run 100,000 approx.) selling out.
The paper is aimed at 20-40 year olds ABC1/C2 i.e. mid market, and has evolved from The Title stable which launched in July 1996 and achieved an ABC circulation of 29,218 (July-Dec 1996). This however, fell to 24,000 (publishers statement) for the period Jan-June 1997. The ABC figure for this period has not been released due to the launch of Ireland on Sunday.
So, is there a market for Ireland on Sunday and if so, where will the readers come from?
There is no doubt that since the demise of the Sunday Press in May 1995, there has been a perceived gap in the Sunday newspaper market. The Sunday Press's last ABC circulation was 154,121 (July-Dec 1994).
The combined figure for Irish Sunday newspapers July-Dec 1994 was 792,866. When this is compared to the same figure for July-Dec 1996 of 786,121, there is only a slight difference of 6,745 or +0.9%.
Sunday Newspapers
Circ. ComparisonPeriod Circ Diff Jul - Dec '94 792,866 - July - Dec '96 786,121 - 6745 (0.9%) Source: A.B.C.
What this means is that Sunday Press sales have been more or less absorbed by the other Irish Sunday papers (including The Title).
Current ABC figures for combined Irish Sunday titles (excluding The Title) for Jan-June 1997 show a combined circulation of 763,968.
If The Title at 24,000 (publishers statement) is added, the total becomes 787,968 or 4,898 (0.6%) less than July-Dec 1994.
The implication here is that if Ireland on Sunday is to reach its circulation target of 60,000 then one of three things need to happen.
1. Ireland on Sunday adds 36,000 sales to The Title's existing 24,000. If this is achieved with no reduction in existing Sunday circulation figures then the new publication will have grown the existing market by 36,000 or 4.6%.
2. Combined Sunday newspaper circulation figures remain static with Ireland on Sunday taking 36,000 sales away from the other Sundays.
3. A combination of Ireland on Sunday creating additional sales in the Sunday market place whilst also taking sales from other Sundays.
In relation to Point 1 above, it is interesting to note what happened when The Title was launched.
As we have seen, its first ABC figure was 29,218 for July-Dec 1996 which combined with the other Sundays gave a total circulation for this period of 786,121.
The ABC total for July-Dec 1995 (the first full six months without the Sunday Press) was 754,324. The difference between these two figures is 31,797 which corresponds almost directly to the circulation by The Title of 29,218.
Sunday Newspapers
Circ. ComparisonPeriod Circ Diff Jul - Dec '95 754,324 - July - Dec '96 786,121 +31,797 Source: A.B.C.
In other words, it would seem that the launch of The Title grew the market without affecting the other circulations to any great extent.
The following table looks at the Ireland on Sunday target audience i.e. 20-44 ABC1/C2 Adults (closest comparison available) and profiles their current reading preferences of Sunday newspapers.
20 - 44 ABC1 / C2 ADULTS
READERSHIP'000 % Ranking Total Audience 985 Sunday Independent 434 44.1 1 Sunday World 336 34.1 2 Sunday Tribune 122 12.4 3 Sunday Business Post 64 6.5 4 The Title 29 2.9 5 Source : Telmar / JNRR / Lansdowne 1996/97
This next table takes each publication's total readership and expresses its 20-44 ABC1/C2 readership as a percentage.
20 - 44 ABC1 / C2 ADULTS
READERSHIP'000
All Adults'000 % Total Audience 2755 985 35.7 Sunday Independent 1152 434 37.7 Sunday World 968 336 34.7 Sunday Tribune 256 122 47.8 Sunday Business Post 107 64 60.0 The Title 54 29 53.4 Source : Telmar / JNRR / Lansdowne 1996/97
A similar exercise looking at UK Sunday titles produces the following results based on TGI (1996) data and on the closest available market i.e. 19-44 ABC1/C2.
19 - 44 ABC1
READERSHIP'000 % Ranking Total Audience 985 News of the World 145 19.0 1 The People 63 8.2 2 Sunday Times 52 6.8 3 Sunday Mirror 43 5.7 4 The Observer 15 1.9 5 Independent on Sunday 14 1.8 6 Sunday Express 10 1.3 7 Mail on Sunday 7 0.9 8 Sunday Telegraph 5 0.7 9 Source : TGI 1996
Note: Only main UK titles are shown. As other publications were included in this analysis, the above figures do not total 100%.
Outlined below is an analysis of 19-44 ABC1/C2 Readers of UK Sunday newspapers as a percentage of total readers of each title.
19 - 44 ABC1 / C2
READERSHIPAll Adults
'000ABC1/C2
19 - 44% Total Audience 2730 764 28.0 Independent on Sunday 24 14 57.0 The Observer 27 15 55.0 Sunday Telegraph 9 5 53.9 Sunday Times 120 52 43.4 Mail on Sunday 22 7 33.3 News of the World 441 145 32.8 Sunday Express 34 10 30.2 Sunday Mirror 151 43 28.6 The People 225 63 27.8 Source: T.G.I. 1996
The following table looks at circulation v. readership. Having arrived at an average readership per copy based on existing figures, we can calculate an estimated Adult readership for Ireland on Sunday.
Circulation
Jan / June '97Readership ('000)
JNRR 1996 / 97 - AdultsSunday Independent 333.966 1.152 Sunday World 234.007 968 Sunday Tribune 84.148 256 Sunday Business Post 41.890 107 Total 694.011 2.483 Source : ABC / JNRR / Lansdowne 1996/97
Average Readers per Copy - Based on 60,000 circulation and 3.6 readers per copy. = Total estimated Readership of 216.000 Having calculated an estimated readership we can now move onto a CPT comparison.
Publication Cost 10 x 4
B/WAdults Readership CPT £ '000 £ Sunday Independent 4200 1152 3.65 Sunday World 3760 968 3.88 Sunday Tribune 2280 256 8.91 Ireland on Sunday 1980 216 9.17 Sunday Business Post 1600 107 14.95 Source : JNRR / Lansdowne 1996/97
Conclusion:
Taking Ireland on Sunday's target market of 20-40 ABC1/C2 - it is obvious from their current reading preferences within the Irish Sunday newspaper market, that the Sunday Independent and the Sunday World are perhaps the most likely to be affected by Ireland on Sunday's entry into the market place.
In fact, Ireland on Sunday have already publicly stated that the Sunday Independent readers in particular, are their main targets.
The Sunday Tribune, although more specifically up-market, is also at risk, as a large proportion of its readers are in the ABC1C2 20-40 age group.
Also vulnerable, are the UK imports. Unfortunately, circulations are still difficult to quantify, given the recent changes in ABC measurement, but readership among Ireland On Sunday's target audience would seem to imply danger for the more popular UK Sunday tabloids.
There would seem to be room in the market for Ireland on Sunday.
Initial signs are that they are going about their task the right way and that their targets are at least achievable.