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Regional evening newspapers have been hit badly once again, with

overall circulation for the sector falling 3.8 per cent. Not one of the

top 15 titles managed to post an increase in top-line figures.

The Sentinel in Stoke-on-Trent was the worst hit of the top-sellers,

down 7.3 per cent to 84,375 for the year.

Five other newspapers - the Birmingham Evening Mail, the Leicester

Mercury, the Newcastle Chronicle, the Yorkshire Evening Post and the

Sheffield Star - were down by more than 5 per cent.

The best performance of the top 15 came from the Edinburgh Evening News,

down 2.1 per cent to 74,021.

However, some of the smaller titles did manage to buck the trend, with

the Peterborough Evening Telegraph jumping 5.8 per cent to 26,016 and

the News & Star in Carlisle increasing circulation by 3.5 per cent to

26,782.

Kent Smith, Peterborough Evening Telegraph circulation director, said:

"Over the past year we've introduced three special supplements to

complement the business, education and entertainment awards that we

do."

Tim Bowdler, chief executive of Johnston Press, said a reduction in bulk

copies was a factor in the evenings' performance."Circulations of all

regional titles have fallen, in part due to the reduction in bulk

sales," he said. "Bulks have a place in a publisher's armoury but, they

should not be used to mask a sales decline."

According to the Newspaper Society's director of communications Lynne

Anderson, readership figures for evenings - which are up on last year,

according to data from BMRB/TGI - show that the sector is still

healthy.

"The regional press continues to hold up well against other media and

any marginal decline in the figures must be examined in the light of

overall media fragmentation," she added. "Base sales have increased

overall - the Bradford Telegraph & Argus, for example, has seen its

highest base-sales increase ever."

The Sunday titles were once again hit the worst of all the sectors, down

4.3 per cent overall, although the decline has slowed from 6.4 per cent

for the same period last year.

The best performance came from the Sunday Herald in Glasgow, up 10.8 per

cent to 60,357 - although only 90 per cent were actively purchased.

Seven of the top ten Sundays saw a fall in sales. Worst hit was Scotland

on Sunday, down by 7.9 per cent to 96,934.

TOP 20 REGIONAL EVENING TITLES

Title ABC Year on

year %

London Evening Standard 429,851 -3.52

West Midlands Express & Star (M-F) 179,464 -3.54

Manchester Evening News (M-F) 168,312 -4.40

Liverpool Echo (M-F) 150,940 -3.15

Birmingham Evening Mail 127,983 -6.41

Belfast Telegraph 111,329 -3.16

Leicester Mercury 105,911 -5.14

Glasgow Evening Times (M-F) 103,126 -3.48

Newcastle Evening Chronicle (M-F) 101,458 -5.49

Leeds - Yorkshire Evening Post (M-F) 95,246 -5.50

Shropshire Star (M-F) 89,908 n/a

Stoke-on-Trent - The Sentinel 84,375 -7.27

Hull Daily Mail and Sports Mail 81,585 -3.56

Sheffield Star (M-F) 78,564 -6.83

Edinburgh - Evening News (M-F) 74,021 -2.15

Coventry Evening Telegraph (M-F) 72,109 n/a

Bristol Evening Post 70,284 -6.38

Cardiff - South Wales Echo 69,799 -1.10

Portsmouth - The News & Sports Mail 66,788 -4.14

Aberdeen - Evening Express 63,845 -2.83

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations (January-June 2001)