The World is watching
As Ireland’s biggest selling paper, Sunday World stands out among its rivals. With award-winning journalists and fearless investigative reporting, this Sunday just keeps going from strength to strength
Print11 February 2009
Sunday World was first published in Ireland in 1973. Then, as now, Ireland’s economy was not in great shape. We were in the height of the troubles and had just joined the EEC.
Into this mix came Ireland’s first colour newspaper – it’s hard to imagine that Sunday World was the only newspaper on a newsagents shelf that actually had a colour photograph on page one.
Since that time, the newspaper has changed considerably as has the entire Sunday market in Ireland. The Irish Press group is no longer with us, and on Sundays, the competitive landscape now sees 18 titles vying for space on the retailers shelves.
Number one for actual sales
The Sunday World now produces one of the finest tabloid newspapers in the world and with an ABC sales figure of 292,124 copies on the island of Ireland, it is the country’s favourite newspaper.
With a huge readership of over 1 million adults each week, its popularity has continued from the 1970s right through to the present decade. A sound testiment to the paper’s groundbreaking exclusive stories and fearless pursuit of organised crime, for which crime editor Paul Williams and his team have received many awards, and which are the cornerstone of the paper.
Content is king and the newspaper – which is wholly produced in Dublin – does not rely on newsfeeds from a UK sister title. Instead, Sunday World has invested huge resources in its editorial team and the Irish public have voted with their feet and their pockets.
Managing director Gerry Lennon says: "The Irish newspaper reader is savvy. It is important with so much competition, particularly from overseas, that we continue to produce a top quality product every Sunday and deliver value for money."
Something for everyone
The range and breadth of Sunday World editorial has something for everyone in the family. Its team continues to market the newspaper aggressively and use TV, radio and outdoor to stimulate purchase.
Sunday World currently outsells its nearest tabloid rival by 70,000 copies per week, and sells more copies weekly than News of the World, Sunday People and Sunday Mirror combined in the 26 counties.
Circulation manager, Darren Cosgrave is quick to point out the valuable role played by the newsagents in this success. "Our newsagents are extremely important to us. We have the highest cover price of any tabloid or compact on Sunday and we deliver the highest margin to the news trade.
"We do not distribute any frees or bulks, all our papers are sold at full rate. We have increased the cover price from €2 to €2.30 and, over the past 15 months, we have invested even more money in the product and in marketing, and we have seen sales rising.
"We invest heavily in TV advertising to increase footfall and we believe our offering is the best value on Sunday morning. We are also introducing an incentive scheme to newsagents who are increasing their sales, which we will be announcing shortly."
Also commenting on its great success, Colm McGinty, editor Sunday World, said: "We have the most committed editorial staff in the country, they all take great pride in the jersey and go the extra mile.
"I think this commitment shines through the paper from News to Sport and glossy TV magazine. We will continue to cover the issues and publish the stories other media won’t touch."
2009 will present new challenges for the newspaper industry unlike any it has experienced before. Sunday World has the capacity, not only to ride out this storm, but to increase sales. This top-selling tabloid will continue to invest in its editorial product and work closely with the retailers to maximise revenues in these difficult times. And to the bad guys, always remember: "The World is watching!"
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