IRS Q1 2012: No change at the top in Hindi & English dailies

MUMBAI: Continuing the trend from the preceding quarter, Dainik Jagran and The Times of India are the most read publications in the Hindi and English language dailies respectively, according to the IRS (Indian Readership Survey) first-quarter report released by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and Hansa Research.

Among the Hindi dailies, Dainik Jagran?s average issue readership (AIR) has surged marginally while second ranked Dainik Bhaskar has lost out on readers. Hindustan comes in on number three having increased its readership as has fourth place holder Amar Ujala.

There was no change in the pecking order of the Hindi dailies. Dainik Jagran?s AIR has grown marginally to 16.412 million in Q1 from 16.410 million in the previous quarter. Dainik Bhaskar (AIR of 14.55 million), Hindustan (12.16 million) and Amar Ujala (8.69 million) followed.

Among the English dailies, the Times of India continues to hold its numero uno position.

TOI has garnered a total AIR of 7.65 million, slightly lower than the trailing quarter report. It is followed by Hindustan Times (AIR of 3.81 million), which is maintaining its strong growth. The Hindu (AIR of 2.23 million) saw a marginal dip.

Economic Times and Mumbai Mirror swapped places from the previous quarter with AIR of 792000 and 777000 respectively.

In the regional dailies, Malayalam Manorama continues to top the chart, though it has experienced a slip in AIR from 99.37 million last quarter to 98.75 million in Q1 2012. The only change in the ranking from the previous quarter is the interchanging of ranks of Gujarat Samachar and Dinakaran with the latter slipping ground.