EL PAÍS confirms lead among general-interest press

EL PAÍS has confirmed its lead among the general-interest press, widening the gap over its competitors in a year that saw widespread decline across the sector. The newspaper ended 2011 with an average daily circulation of 365,117 copies, 1% down over the previous year, according to data from the bureau OJD, pending audit.

The second-ranking daily paper, El Mundo, was down 11% over the full year, with an average of 252,729 copies daily. Thus, the gap between the first and second-ranking newspapers has widened to more than 110,000 copies. The third national newspaper, ABC, was also down 11% over the previous year and, with a figure of 221,353, about 30,000 behind El Mundo.

La Vanguardia reported a daily average figure of 190,033 copies in 2011, representing a decrease of 5%. El Periódico was down by 10% in the year, at 119,369 copies. La Razón reported an average of 104,821, a 12% fall. La Gaceta was down by 8% in 2011 at 41,094 copies. There is no December data for Publico, which is in bankruptcy proceedings.

Among the sports press, Marca was down by 11% and ended the year with a daily average of 244,940 copies, while As (PRISA Group, publisher of EL PAÍS) was down by 6% at 198,758 copies. Mundo Deportivo fell by 5% to 95,906 copies, while Sport was also down 5% to 91,753 copies.

Business and finance daily, Cinco Días (also PRISA) managed to maintain last year’s figure, at 31,327 per day, compared with declines of 5% for Expansion, at 37,570, and 12% for El Economista, which was at 21,570 copies.