The 200-year old Sunday national newspaper did manage to lift monthly circulation by 1% to 354,565, but this followed the title's worst monthly audit in its modern history.
The Sunday stalwart has lost more than 110,000 copies from its official circulation since January 2008, although that figure includes some
(21 February) following a redesign by an in-house team.
The new incarnation will consist of four sections, containing news, sport, reviews and the Observer magazine. It is believed it will maintain its £2 cover price.
The relaunch will result in the closure of its Business & Media section, Observer Music Monthly, Observer Sport Monthly and Observer Women.
Meanwhile, the snowy month of January proved to be a strong one for most Sunday newspapers, with the red-tops average circulation up 4%, the mid market up 1.5% and quality titles up 2%.
Leading the recovery following the festive dip was News of the World, up 6.9% month on month to 2,984,469, but still yet to fully recovery since falling below three million in November. It is down 4.01% year on year.
The Sunday Mirror was up 1% to 1,124,260 but down 7% year on year while the Daily Star Sunday rose 1.6% month on month to 358,814 and 1.5% year on year.
The Sunday Telegraph posted a circulation rise of 0.5% to 527,742, but down 5.7% year on year. The Sunday Times was up 2.9% month on month to 1,144,929 but down 2.5% year on year.
In the mid-market battle, The Mail on Sunday, which underwent a revamp on 10 January, posted a 2.4% rise to 2,048,008 for January, but circulation was down 5.2% year on year. The Sunday Express remained static with 585,023, down 7% year on year.
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