Readership of most newspapers across the country has declined compared to last year's figures, according to the latest data (round 2) of the Indian Readership Survey 2008. The survey, conducted by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC), was released Tuesday in Mumbai.
The Times of India still leads English dailies with a total readership of 133.4 lakh, dropping from 134.8 lakh readers last year. Hindustan Times is second with a total readership of 63.5 lakh, registering an increase from 60.9 lakh last year. The Hindu comes third with 52.8 lakh, increasing marginally from 52.5 lakh last year. The Telegraph is fourth with a readership of 29 lakh, compared to 30 lakh last. Fifth-placed is Deccan Chronicle with 28 lakh, down from 30 lakh last year.
Dainik Jagran remains number one among Hindi dailies, growing from 536.1 lakh readers last year to 557.4 lakh now. Second-placed Dainik Bhaskar has increased its readership from 305.8 lakh last year to 338.3 lakh now. Amar Ujala its third with 293.8 lakh readers, up from 282.2 lakh last year. Hindustan is next with 266.3 lakh readers, up from 235.3 lakh last year. Fifth-placed Rajasthan Patrika has grown from 131.9 lakh readers last year to 140 lakh this year.
Both leading Bengali newspapers Ananda Bazar Patrika (down from 157.5 lakh last year to 153.9 lakh) and Bartaman (down from 87.6 lakh last year to 84 lakh) have lost readers. Both leading Axomiya dailies, Asomiya Pratidin and Dainik Agradoot, too have lost readers. Pratidin has 60.2 lakh readers now (down from 65.9 lakh last year), while Agradoot has 32.8 lakh readers (down from 39.8 lakh last year).
The two top Gujarati dailies, Gujarat Samachar and Sandesh, have been able to generate new readers. Gujarat Samachar has grown from 84.7 lakh readers last year to 87.4 lakh readers, while Sandesh has grown from 63.6 lakh readers last year to 65.3 lakh readers. Among Kannada newspapers, Vijay Karnataka is still number one, but has seen its readership drop from 99.4 lakh last year to 92.2 lakh this time. Prajavani is next, but has also lost readers from 66.4 lakh last year to 58.3 lakh now.
Leading Malayalam dailies Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi have lost readers as well. The former saw readership fall from 129.1 lakh last year to 121.8 lakh. The latter saw readership drop from 105 lakh last year to 97.1 lakh. Among Marathi newspapers, Lokmat is still the most-read, but has seen its readership drop from 206.6 lakh last year to 199.3 lakh this time. Daily Sakal is next, but has also lost readers from 125.6 lakh last year to 116.3 lakh now.
The top Tamil daily is still Daily Thanthi, but has lost readers—from 208.8 lakh last year to 205.6 lakh this year. Next-placed Dinakaran, however, has increased from its base from 160.8 lakh readers last year to 168.3 lakh now. Both leading Telugu newspapers, Eenadu and Andhra Jyothi, have registered more readers. The former has 144.1 lakh readers (up from 142.2 lakh last year), while the latter now has 68.1 lakh readers (up from 56.8 lakh last year).
