Reader’s choice: Hindustan Times

Hindustan Times has retained its undisputed leadership position in Delhi for the third successive round in the quarterly results of Indian Readership Survey (IRS; Q3 2010) just released by MRUC. Survey

Hindustan Times has retained its undisputed leadership position in Delhi for the third successive round in the quarterly results of Indian Readership Survey (IRS; Q3 2010) just released by Media Research Users Council (MRUC).

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HT has recorded an AIR (average issue readership, or daily readership) of 19.14 lakh and a TR of 27.16 lakh (total readership, or sum of daily and casual readership). This milestone is a reaffirmation of the strong reader-focused journalism that has enabled HT’s continued leadership since its re-launch in 2009.

HT also leads in the Delhi NCR on the basis of total readership (TR) with 31.89 lakh readers. The daily readership of HT is 21.36 lakh against ToI’s 21.38 lakh.

Significantly, HT leads TOI by 41,000 in terms of solus readership (number of people who only read

HT

as English newspaper) in Delhi NCR. In an era of media proliferation, such loyalty is a big reinforcement of the strong bond your newspaper shares with you through initiatives such as Delhi First, Campus Calling, and the launch of special newspapers for Gurgaon and Noida.

Meanwhile, Hindustan Times Mumbai has become the undisputed No 2 broadsheet newspaper overtaking DNA. While HT has grown by 5.1% to 5.92 lakh readers AIR, DNA has declined by 5.1%. In fact, HT is the only daily to have grown in eight out of the last nine rounds of IRS results in Mumbai.

This gain in readership is reflected across all segments, particularly among the affluent and educated readers (SEC A and SEC AB), and among youth (12-29 years). In Chandigarh, Hindustan Times with, 85,000 readers, has emerged as a strong No 2 English daily and is within striking distance of The Tribune by just 4,000 readers.

At an all India level, Hindustan Times has continued to grow readership and now has 35.17 Lakh daily readership, from 34.53 Lakh.

Among Hindi dailies, readership of Hindustan — at number three — has grown in all its markets — by a substantial 7% — while the other players have remained stagnant. With this, it narrows its TR gap from the number two Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar, from 28 lakh to only seven lakh. Mint, the Business paper from the HT Media group, has consolidated its No 2 position by growing readership. With editions in Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad yet to be reflected, it is firmly on a sustained growth trajectory.