The British Press

Abstract

The first thing that must strike anyone who examines the circulation figures for Britain is how successful the newspaper industry has been in making the public accept, even with the competition of radio and television, that a daily paper and a Sunday are indispensable to life. The Mirror has nearly 4·5 million readers, the Express 3·5, the Daily Telegraph nearly 1·5. But it is in the Sundays, which still reflect the old working-class habit of reading a newspaper only at the weekend, that the highest figures are to be found: the News of the World 6·25 million; the Sunday People over 5 million; the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday Express 4·75 and 4·25 million respectively. The Sunday Times has almost 1·5 million. These are figures which can be challenged on the Continent only by France-Soir with its 1·25 million. At the lower end of the scale are The Times with 375,000 and the Guardian with just over 300,000.