IRS 2011, Q4: TOI & Hindu: Top gainers of the year

TOI has gained 1.74 lakh average readers per issue, while The Hindu has added another 1.45 lakh readers since Q1, 2011.

In the English language space, The Times of India (TOI) added 1.5 lakh average readers per issue in the latest quarter of IRS, 2011. In the one year between Q1, 2011 and Q4, 2011, the English daily added 1.74 lakh readers. In the current quarter, the newspaper claims an average issue readership (AIR) of 76.16 lakh.

Hindustan Times (HT) continues to be the No. 2 English daily of the country, with an AIR of 37.91 lakh. The gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 dailies continues to be huge, with a difference of 38 lakh readers. HT, though, has added around 58,000 readers this quarter, which makes it the third biggest gainer in Q4, 2011. The English daily has added almost one lakh readers in the last four quarters.

The Hindu, at No. 3, is the second biggest gainer of the year after the TOI. The Chennai-based publication has added 1.45 lakh readers in the last one year and 71,000 readers in the current quarter. In between, the daily lost marginally only in Q2, 2011 - a loss of 18,000 readers - but it compensated for the loss in the next quarter, with an addition of 92,000 readers.

ABP Group's The Telegraph is at No. 4, with an AIR of 12.73 lakh -- a marginal gain of 7,000 readers since the last quarter (Q3, 2011). The daily has maintained a constant growth during the last one year, having added 70,000 readers since Q1, 2011.

Another South-based daily, Deccan Chronicle, is at No. 5 with an AIR of 10.34 lakh. It has incurred a significant loss of AIR in this quarter - a de-growth of 60,000 readers since Q3, 2011.

DNA occupies the No. 6 position, with an AIR of 8.97 lakh this quarter. The daily has added 34,000 readers this quarter and 75,000 readers in the last one year, maintaining its slow and steady growth chart.

De-throning The Economic Times (ET) from the No.7 position is its sister publication, the Mumbai-based tabloid, Mumbai Mirror. The tabloid has an AIR of 8.03 lakh in Q4, 2011 - an increase of 43,000 readers during this period. The daily has added 23,000 readers in the last one year. The tabloid had lost 22,000 readers in Q2, 2011.

ET, at No. 8, has lost 22,000 readers in the current quarter. However, it is still on a high having added 21,000 readers since Q1, 2011. The business daily has an AIR of 7.90 lakh this time. The daily had gained 43,000 readers in the previous two quarters of 2011.

The No. 9 and No. 10 rankers have been interchanged between The New Indian Express and The Tribune. The New Indian Express, at No. 9, gained 87,000 readers in the last one year, while The Tribune added 16,000 readers. With a gain of 44,000 readers in this quarter, The New Indian Express has an AIR of 6.37 lakh readers.

The Tribune has lost marginal readership of 14,000 this quarter but its gain of 32,000 readers in Q3, 2011 compensates for the current loss. It claims an AIR of 5.85 lakh.

(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.)