IRS Q3 2012: Cheerful quarter for Top 10 Hindi dailies

Seven out of top 10 Hindi dailies grow but there is no change in the pecking order. Dainik Jagran continues to be numero uno while Prabhat Khabar adds maximum readers

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | January 29, 2013

This quarter has brought cheers to Hindi dailies also as seven out of the top 10 Hindi dailies have registered growth in their Average Issue Readership (AIR) in IRS Q3 2012 with no change in the pecking order.

India's No. 1 Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran, added 45,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2012 after adding 17,000 readers in the previous quarter. The daily has recorded an AIR of 1,64,74,000 in IRS Q3 2012 compared with 1,64,29,000 in IRS Q2 2012 and 1,64,12,000 in IRS Q1 2012. Dainik Jagran had 1,64,10,000 readers in IRS Q4 2011 and 1,64,58,000 readers in IRS Q3 2011. Thus it has added 16,000 readers over the year.

At No. 2, Dainik Bhaskar has shown some recovery after losing readership in the last two quarters. The daily has added 43,000 readers and recorded an AIR of 1,44,91,000 in IRS Q3 2012 against 1,44,48,000 in the previous quarter, 1,45,53,000 in IRS Q1 2012 and 1,46,02,000 in IRS Q4 2011.

Hindustan continues to be the third largest read Hindi daily on the back of consistent growth over the past several quarters. It has added 37,000 readers in IRS Q3 2012 to record an AIR of 1,22,42,000 compared with 1,22,05,000 in the previous quarter, 1,21,57,000 in IRS Q1 2012 and 1,20,45,000 in IRS Q4 2011.

The fourth largest Hindi daily, Amar Ujala, has lost 72,000 readers in the third quarter of IRS 2012. The daily has recorded an AIR of 85.36 lakh in IRS Q3 2012 against 86.08 lakh in IRS Q2 2012, 86.93 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 88.42 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.

At No. 5, Rajasthan Patrika has shown some recovery in the current survey. It has recorded an AIR of 68.18 lakh in IRS Q3 20132 compared with 67.56 lakh in the previous quarter, 68.07 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 68.47 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.

Punjab Kesri has also added 17,000 readers to take its AIR to 33.64 lakh in IRS Q3 2012 against 33.47 lakh in the previous quarter, 33.86 lakh in RS Q1 2012 and 33.30 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.

Prabhat Khabar continues to register high growth remaining at No. 7. The daily has added maximum readers among Hindi dailies in IRS Q3 2012. By adding 1.40 lakh readers in the current survey, it has recorded an AIR of 27.61 lakh against 26.21 lakh in the previous quarter, 24.37 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 21.87 lakh in IRS Q4 2012.

At No. 8, Navbharat Times has registered growth in its readership in the third quarter of IRS 2012. The daily has added 55,000 readers and recorded an AIR of 26.39 lakh in IRS Q3 2012 compared with 25.84 lakh in IRS Q2 2012, 25.88 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 25.73 lakh in IRS Q4 2012.

Patrika's growth momentum has come to a halt in the third quarter of IRS 2012. The daily has lost 21,000 readers and recorded an AIR of 20.51 lakh against 20.72 lakh in the previous quarter, 19.46 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 17.87 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.

At No. 10, Nai Dunia has lost a few readers. It has recorded an AIR of 15.53 lakh against 15.69 lakh in IRS Q2 2012, 16.88 lakh in IRS Q1 2012 and 16.49 lakh in IRS Q4 2011.

(AIR numbers; All figures in '000)

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Average Issue Readership (AIR) of a publication is defined as the number of readers of that publication who have claimed to have last read it within its periodicity, i.e., last read a daily yesterday, a weekly within the last week, a monthly within the last month, etc.

This measure is considered to be a more relevant measure of 'real' or 'regular' readership, especially for newspapers, most of which have been read/consumed as a matter of daily habit. Conventionally, media planners even calculate and compare cost-benefits of dailies based on the AIR figure. Hence, it is perhaps the most relevant to study readership trends as well in terms of AIR.

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