IRS Q3 2010: Parts Of Delhi Decoded

The Times of India regains its top spot in West Delhi; HT remains the elite choice by leading in South Delhi.

Rajat Arora | Delhi | December 6, 2010

National Capital Delhi has almost equal number of readers for English and Hindi dailies. The Indian Readership Survey divides the state into four parts as East, West, North and South Delhi. Each part of Delhi has its own readership pattern depending on its society and culture. For example, North Delhi has maximum number of Hindi readers with Navbharat Times on top while Hindustan Times remains the largest read daily in South Delhi.

In the current round of Indian Readership Survey The Times Group publications 'The Times of India' and 'Navabharat Times' have out performed Hindustan Times in West Delhi and East Delhi. However, Hindustan Times remains as largest read daily in overall Delhi.

The No.1 daily of the National Capital is 'Hindustan Times' for the third consecutive round of IRS data despite losing 47,000 readers in current quarter of IRS 2010. The English daily has an AIR of 19.14 lakh as compared to 19.61 lakh in Q2. The paper had lost 51,000 readers in second quarter of IRS 2010. It had surpassed The Times of India in Q1 by adding 78,000 readers to take its AIR to 20.12 lakh as compared to 19.34 lakh in IRS R2 2009.

Hindustan Times leads in South Delhi with 6.23 lakh readers where it has lost 6,000 readers in the current round of data. In West Delhi, HT was the leader for past 2 quarters but now it has been pushed to 3^rd spot by The Times Group publications. Hindustan Times has lost 14,000 readers again in west with an AIR of 4.56 lakh. By losing 26,000 readers, HT has lost its No.2 position in East Delhi with current AIR of 4.04 lakh. In North Delhi, Hindustan Times is firmly holding its readers and 2^nd spot. Without any change in the readership figures in the current round of data, its AIR remains at 4.31 lakh.

At second spot in Delhi is 'The Times of India' which has lost 29,000 readers. Its current AIR in overall Delhi stands at 18.56 lakh as compared to 18.85 lakh in Q2 and 19.48 lakh in IRS Q1 2010. TOI has regained its No.1 position in West Delhi by adding 13,000 readers in the current quarter with AIR of 4.64 lakh. It has lost its top position in East Delhi by losing 3,000 readers with AIR of 4.33 lakh in current round of data. In North Delhi, TOI remains at 3^rd spot by losing 19,000 readers with an AIR of 3.82 lakh. By losing 19,000 readers in South Delhi too, it holds the second spot with 5.77 lakh AIR.

Hindi Daily 'Navbharat Times' is firmly holding No.3 spot in the National Capital and has shown consistent growth for past 3 survey results. Its current AIR stands at 17.95 lakh as compared to 17.24 lakh in Q2 and 16.90 lakh in Q1 and 15.90 lakh IRS R2 2009. NBT leads in North and East Delhi with 4.88 lakh and 4.35 lakh AIR respectively. NBT became the leader in North Delhi in last quarter when it added 66,000 readers to take its AIR at 4.82 lakh. In IRS Q3 2010, it has seen the maximum growth of 10% in West Delhi and added 42,000 readers to take its AIR at 4.63 lakh. Navbharat Times remains at No.3 position in South Delhi where its current AIR stands at 4.09 lakh as compared to 4.01 lakh in last quarter.

At No.4 in all parts of Delhi is Hindi daily 'Hindustan' with AIR of 11.63 lakh in IRS Q3 2010 in overall Delhi. It has registered a marginal growth of 3,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2010. Its current AIR stands at 2.95 lakh in North Delhi, 3.10 lakh in South Delhi, 2.78 lakh in East Delhi and 2.79 lakh in West Delhi.

Riding on good shows in West and North Delhi, nation's largest read Hindi daily 'Dainik Jagran' has become the new No.5 daily of Delhi. By adding 42,000 readers in IRS Q3 2010, its current AIR now stands at 7.04 lakh as against 6.62 lakh in Q2. However, Dainik Jagran remains at 6^th spot in 3 parts of Delhi except East Delhi where its AIR stands at 2.62 lakh. It has recorded the AIR of 1.54 lakh in North Delhi, 1.33 lakh in South Delhi and 1.52 lakh in West Delhi. Jagran has added maximum 30,000 readers in West Delhi.

Pushed down by Dainik Jagran, Hindi Daily 'Punjab Kesari' is now the No.6 newspaper of Delhi with current AIR of 6.92 lakh as compared to 7.45 lakh in IRS Q2 2010. Punjab Kesri has lost 53,000 readers in IRS Q3 2010. It remains on No.5 position in North Delhi, South Delhi and West Delhi while in East Delhi it is at No.6. Its AIR in the third quarter of IRS 2010 stands at 2.10 lakh in North Delhi, 1.37 lakh in South Delhi, 1.42 lakh in East Delhi and 2.03 lakh in West Delhi.

At No.7 is English daily 'Mail Today' from India Today Group which remains the 3^rd largest read English daily in the National Capital despite of losing some readers. The compact daily had claimed its circulation crossing 2 lakh in September this year and it is now surprising to see the average issue readership less than the circulation. By losing 2,000 readers in IRS Q3 2010, its AIR now stands at 2.01 lakh. Its current AIR stands at 57,000 in North Delhi, 58,000 in South Delhi, 28,000 in East Delhi and 58,000 in West Delhi.

The largest read business daily of the country 'The Economic Times' is at No.8 position in Delhi with a slight decline of just 4,000 readers in current round of data. Its AIR in Q3 stands at 1.82 lakh as compared to 1.86 lakh in Q2. Its current AIR stands at 42,000 in North Delhi, 55,000 in South Delhi, 46,000 in East Delhi and 39,000 in West Delhi.

English daily 'The Hindu' has maintained its growth and 9^th spot in this quarter too and added 5,000 readers to take its AIR up to 1.07 lakh as compared to 1.02 in last quarter. Its current AIR stands at 37,000 in North Delhi, 42,000 in South Delhi and 12,000 in West Delhi.

Hindi Daily 'Amar Ujala' has again registered marginal loss in the third quarter of IRS 2010. After losing 3,000 readers in Q2, the Hindi daily has lost 4,000 readers in Q3 to take its AIR at 91,000. Its current AIR stands at 20,000 in North Delhi and 48,000 in East Delhi where it holds 7^th spot.

The No.10 position in South Delhi is held by 'Rashtriya Sahara' with AIR of 21,000. Hindi daily 'Nai Dunia' has surged ahead to 9^th spot in West Delhi with 23,000 readers while it has strengthened its position in East Delhi at 10^th spot with 28,000 AIR.

Click here for more coverage on IRS Q3 2010.

Rajat.Arora@BestMediaInfo.com

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