Bhubaneswar: Contrary to popular perception that print readership is on the decline with the proliferation of digital media, Odisha’s popular daily ‘Sambad’ has retained its top slot among Odia dailes once again.

The latest report Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2019 Q1 released on Friday revealed the growing popularity of Sambad. The readership of the vernacular daily has increased to 66.06 lakh in the IRS 2019 Q1.

The readership of ‘The Samaja’ has declined significantly to 54.86 lakh. Similarly, the subscription of ‘Dharitri’ has also drastically gone down to 31.87 lakh. However, ‘The Prameya’ has added some readers and has gone up to 37.72 lakh.

“I thank my readers, well-wishers and supporters for continuously making Sambad the No 1 newspaper of Odisha,” the Editor of Sambad, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said.

Among English daily newspapers, The Times of India has retained its number one position with a total readership of 1,52,36,000 in IRS 2019 Q1 against 1,30,45,000 of total readership in IRS 2017. The Hindu is at the second spot followed by The Economic Times at the third. Mumbai Mirror and The Indian Express have got fourth and fifth positions in terms of total readership. The data for The Hindustan Times for English/Hindi has not been included as the numbers are being reviewed and its ranking is expected to be updated shortly. This may lead to changes in the rankings.

In the Hindi daily newspaper category, Dainik Jagran has retained the top position with a total readership of 7,36,73,000 compared with 7,03,77,000 of total readership in IRS 2017. Dainik Bhaskar has become the second-largest read daily overtaking Amar Ujala.

In the magazine category, India Today (English/Hindi) has become the most read magazine.

The readership survey conducted by Nielsen for Media Research Users Council (MRUC) further stated that the total sample size of IRS 2019 Q1 was 324,286 households and the report is based on a rolling average of data from last three quarters of IRS 2017 and one fresh quarter from IRS 2019 (November 2018 to April 2019).