IRS 2011, Q3: Meri Saheli, General Knowledge Today, and Karmakshetra register growth

All other magazines in the Top 10 list have lost average readers per issue.

Vanitha Malayalam continues to lead the overall magazine category in Q3, 2011 of IRS, despite a fall in its average issue readership (AIR).

In the third quarter of 2011, Vanitha garnered 25.9 lakh average issue readers. Interestingly, despite the lead, the magazine has witnessed slides in its AIR figures for quite a while now.

In Q1, 2011, the magazine lost as many as 62,000 readers over Q4, 2010, to pocket 26.53 readers. While it did try to catch up during the second quarter, the addition was only a mere 18,000 readers. In the third quarter, the loss was exaggerated to 81,000 readers when compared to Q2, 2011.

At No. 2, Pratiyogita Darpan, on the other hand, had been witnessing consistent growth in its readership figures during Q1 and Q2 of 2011. The Hindi daily had added as many as 70,000 readers in Q1, 2011 over Q4, 2010, and 1.27 lakh readers in Q2, 2011 over Q1, 2011. However, despite maintaining the second spot in the overall magazine category, Pratiyogita Darpan lost as many as 1.29 lakh readers in the third quarter of this year.

Consistent at No. 3, Saras Salil saw an approximate 4.8 per cent fall in AIR during Q3, 2011 over the previous quarter, thereby losing the almost equivalent set of readers that it had gained in Q2, 2011. The Hindi magazine had 19,42,000 readers in Q4, 2010, which grew to 19,45,000 readers in Q1, 2011.

India Today comes next with AIR of 16.36 lakh. The English weekly saw an approximate 5 per cent drop in its readership in Q3, 2011 over the previous quarter, in which it had garnered 17.24 average readers per issue.

It is pertinent to note here that the magazine had witnessed a 6 per cent fall in readership during Q1, 2011 over Q4, 2010, when it had lost 1,07,000 readers.

At No. 5, Malayala Manorama witnessed a 6 per cent fall in readership during Q3, 2011 -- from 13,93,000 AIR in Q2, 2011, to 13,07,000 AIR in Q3, 2011. The Malayalam weekly had added 27,000 readers during Q1, 2011 over Q4, 2010, but lost 20,000 readers during the following quarter.

Meanwhile, after witnessing an almost 3 per cent drop in readers during Q1, 2011, Meri Saheli, at No. 6, saw a 6.7 per cent rise in Q2, 2011 (11,74,000 AIR), followed by a further 2.9 per cent increase in readers in Q3, 2011 (12,09,000 AIR) .

At No. 7, Cricket Samrat fell by 4.4 per cent in Q3, 2011 over Q2, 2011, losing 54,000 readers over the given period. The Hindi monthly cricket magazine's AIR is 11.59 lakh in Q3, 2011. Cricket Samrat had seen a 23 per cent rise in its AIR during Q2, 2011, after a fall of 6.2 per cent during Q1, 2011.

At the eighth position, the AIR for the Hindi edition of India Today stands at 11.16 lakh. It has seen a 2.4 per cent drop in readers over Q2, 2011 -- a total loss of 28,000 readers. During the first quarter of the year, the magazine had lost 25,000 readers, before gaining 7, 000 readers in the following quarter.

General Knowledge Today, an English monthly magazine, and Karmakshetra, a weekly Bengali magazine, are the new entrants in the Top 10 list of Q3, 2011. While the former has seen a 9 per cent growth in its AIR -- from 9.77 lakh in Q2, 2011, to 10.87 lakh in Q3, 2011, the latter has witnessed a 14 per cent rise in its AIR. Karmakshetra has added 1. 31 lakh readers during Q3, 2011 over Q1, 2011.

(Total readership includes any reader who has read any of the last six issues; whereas average issue readership includes only readers who have read the last issue.)