"Sunday, Sunday, here again in tidy attire. You read the colour supplement, the TV guide." Except, since pop group Blur wrote that song in 1993, the nature of Sundays has changed dramatically. People are now more likely to go shopping or play sport on a Sunday - and that's bad news for newspapers.
Last week's ABC figures for May showed yet another circulation drop for the Sunday papers, which are falling even faster than their daily counterparts - declining 23% over the past 10 years, compared to 16.9% for the dailies, according to Mediaedge:cia.
The Independent on Sunday and, to a lesser extent, The Sunday Telegraph have recently redesigned in a bid to stem the flow, while further changes can be expected from all papers in the market as they fight for increasingly disinterested readers.
On the face of it, the Sundays should have an easier time than the dailies because people are less likely to get their news online on the day of rest and still have more spare time on that day than any other.
But they do spend the time differently - more actively - and this eats into reading time. Also, the Saturday papers have grown in multi-section papers with supplements that can be read over the weekend and, crucially, sporting events no longer happen mainly on a Saturday.
The Sunday Times is still the giant of the industry, with a 10% market share overall and 47% of the quality market. But the title was hard-hit when it hiked its price to £2 - a realistic price given the amount of content, but possibly the upper limit of what consumers are willing to pay.
Slimmer package
Observers believe The Sunday Times' price rise may have had a knock-on effect on other titles' circulation, because it has hit the habit of buying a second or third paper on a Sunday. "Newspapers have been under-priced for years, but the cost of The Sunday Times makes the second paper problematic," says one circulation manager.
The Independent on Sunday recently took the opposite line, slimming down with just one supplement and an introductory price of £1. The paper is trying to appeal to consumers who do not currently buy a Sunday, it says, acknowledging that readers have less spare time. Circulation and marketing director David Greene says the Sindy had exceeded its targets in the first two weeks since relaunch and is "very pleased" with its reception.
Cynics suggest that, rather than responding to the market, it is responding to its own limited resources. "The changes have been a measure of cost, dressed up as a great strategic initiative," suggests a rival circulation manager.
Either way, the Sindy's "less is more" approach is unlikely to set a trend. Consumers may say they want less - and suffer the odd environmental twinge of conscience about the unread supplements - but the evidence says different. The Observer, for example, has benefited from its four new monthly magazines and The Sunday Times is not shrinking.
Clare Rush, head of press at Mediaedge:cia, says: "Editorial products are getting stronger - they have all upped the ante. There are still mass audiences and the product is getting stronger because it has to."
Rush adds that Sunday papers must start thinking multi-platform, like their daily brethren. "Sunday reading does not just have to be in print," she cautions. "For us, the future will be about content, regardless of channel."
Stabilising decline
But the Sunday papers are on a seemingly unstoppable decline. Ex-Daily Mirror editor Roy Greenslade predicts that the red-tops will fold within five to 10 years as they struggle against the ever-growing celebrity magazine and website market, as will the weaker qualities, such as the Sindy. He is more sanguine about The Mail on Sunday, The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sunday Times, believing their decline is stabilising and will survive for the foreseeable future.
"It's about managing decline as elegantly as possible," he says. "Try and be the last man standing."
That's not the most optimistic of goals, but for the Sunday papers, it seems to be as good as it gets.