Tough times for the Tabloids, 15% circulation drop for Record, Mail and Post

THE first set of newspaper circulation figures to be released this year are out today, relating to newspaper sales in December 2018.

These figures are issued by the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) every month and compare each month’s circulation with the same month from the previous year.

There has been a downward trend in this for many years now. Indeed it’s a little like a plane losing altitude as it goes into land. It’s only a matter of time before it touches down.

There are three Scottish based newspapers in this category and here’s how they got on in December 2018.

Let’s start with the only Scottish based daily newspaper included in these figures – the Daily Record.

In December 2018 the Daily Record had a daily circulation of 118,603 copies. This represents a drop of 15% on December 2017.

There are two Scottish based Sundays in the list, the Sunday Mail and Sunday Post. Here’s how they got on in December 2018.

Let’s start with the Record’s sister paper, the Sunday Mail. That paper sold 122,653 copies per issue in December 2018 and like the Record that represents a drop of 15% on the same month in 2017.

The Sunday Post sold 107,704 copies – which includes 538 bulk sales (the freebie copies you get at airports etc) and this also represents a drop of 15% on the previous year. This Sunday newspaper looks like being the first of the three remaining Scottish titles in this group of national newspapers to drop below 100k circulation.

Gone are the days when just about every household in Scotland would get the Mail and the Post on a Sunday.

One thing is clear, it’s Tough times for the Tabloids.

Also on The Celtic Star today…