IRS Q2 2011: Regional language dailies sing a familiar song!

Sustaining on its top position is Malayalam Manorama by adding 24,000 readers in this quarter. India's largest read language daily, it has recorded an average issue readership (AIR) of 99.62 lakh in Q2 of IRS 2011 as compared to 99.38 lakh in the previous quarter.

Continuing on the second spot is Marathi daily Lokmat that has recorded an AIR of 75.95 lakh in this quarter as compared to 74.86 lakh in the previous quarter; the daily has added 1.09 lakh readers in this quarter. | By Ankita Tanna [ankita(at)adgully.com]

Tamil newspaper Daily Thanthi comes on the third position with an AIR of 72.90 lakh as compared to 71.87 lakh in Q1 of IRS 2011. The daily has added 1.03 lakh readers in Q2 of IRS 2011.

Another Malayalam daily on the list is Mathrubhumi, though it has been on the declining line this quarter. Losing 1.10 lakh readers in this quarter, the daily has recorded an AIR of 66.90 lakh as compared to 68 lakh in the previous quarter. On the losing lines is Bengali daily Anand Bazar Patrika, which has lost 55,000 readers, pushing its current AIR stands at 60.63 lakh as compared to 61.18 lakh in Q1 of IRS 2011.

Eenadu at the 6th spot of the top languages daily has registered some growth in this quarter after witnessing losses for two quarters. The Telegu daily has added 41,000 readers in this quarter while it had lost 50,000 readers in IRS Q1 2011. In contrast, at No. 7 is Gujarat Samachar which has registered a decline (marginal though) of 56,000 in Q2 IRS 2011 results. The Gujurati daily has recorded AIR of 52.20 lakh in the current quarter as compared to 52.20 lakh in Q1 of IRS 2011.

The southern magic lingers at the 8th and 9th spot as well. On the 8th position is Tamil daily Dinakaran adding 44,000 readers in the second quarter of IRS 2011has been continuously growing. Dinakarn has recorded an AIR of 51.67 lakh in Q2 of IRS 2011 as compared to 51.23 lakh in the previous quarter. Telugu daily Sakshi is on the 9th spot and has strengthened its position by adding 64,000 readers in this quarter. The daily has taken its AIR at 51.06 lakh in as compared to 50.42 lakh in the previous quarter.

Lastly, completing the list is Marathi daily, Daily Sakal. It has seen some decline in its AIR in the second quarter of IRS 2011. The daily has lost 1,20,000 readers in this quarter and its current AIR stands at 44.48 lakh as compared to 45.68 lakh in the previous quarter.