Readership up as revenue slides for French dailies
By Alisa Zykova, Tuesday 16 September 2008 at 17:29 :: Circulaton & Distribution :: #2289 :: rss
French daily newspapers increased their reader numbers by a million, or 4.4 percent, between July 2007 and June 2008, reaching a total of 23.7 million readers, according to a study published by Audipresse on Monday. However, paid dailies such as Le Monde and Le Figaro saw a total loss of 1.8 percent in revenues, Le Monde reported.
The country’s daily paid papers experienced a 7.3 percent increase, boosting readership by 600,000 and reaching a readership base of 8.8 million. This figure corresponds to 17.6 percent of all French people, ages 15 years and above.
The most popular paper is L’Equipe, which recorded an increase of 10.6 percent, to 3.5 million readers. Next in line is Le Parisien, with a 13.2 percent growth to 2.2 million readers. Le Monde and Le Figaro were next, with growths of 1.8 percent (2 million) and 7.4 percent (1.2 million), respectively, according to the Le Monde report on Monday.
Audipresse director Xavier Dordor said the reason for the surge in readers may be due to coverage of local elections. Le Parisien’s popularity may be due to its subject matter and its focus on issues that concern French citizens, such as health risks, financial information and other features that correspond to “daily life,” according to Dordor.
Meanwhile, free urban dailies continue to grow, reaching an audience of 4.2 million readers. Together with three new dailies, Direct Matin, Direct Bretagne and Direct Soir, free dailies saw a readership growth of 12.5 percent, although the new titles were not taken into consideration in July 2007, Le Monde reported.
With nearly 2.6 million readers, 20 Minutes remains the most popular free paper. Metro was in second place, with an increase of 4.1 percent, to almost 2.4 million readers.
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