The Guardian says: According to the data, GNM titles have continued to extend their lead over Telegraph titles for monthly and weekly reach. The Guardian and The Observer are read - either in print or online - by just over 12.7 million people a month, compared to The Telegraph's 11 million - a difference of 1.7 million people a month. The equivalent gap in the previous NRS PADD data release (May 2013) was 1.6 million.
GNM's titles are read by 5.3 million people a week (compared with the Telegraph's 4.9 million) and 2.3 million people a day (compared with the Telegraph's 2.2 million).
This research is based on NRS data from July 2012 - June 2013 and comScore data from June 2013.
David Pemsel, chief commercial officer, Guardian News & Media, said: “It’s fantastic news that our position as Britain’s most successful quality newspaper brand for monthly, weekly and daily reach has been confirmed once more.
“Perhaps what is most striking is how we have continued to extend our lead over other quality titles, with the NRS PADD rankings revealing that we are now 1.7 million readers a month ahead of the Telegraph thanks to the increasingly engaged nature of our audiences.
"This is an exciting time for Guardian News & Media. Having recently moved all of our online properties to theguardian.com, and with a number of agenda-setting international scoops to our name, we’re in a unique and enviable position amongst our competitors. We have ambitious plans to commercially capitalise on this success.”
Ofcom’s recent Communications Market Report found that the Guardian and The Observer are the most trustworthy, accurate and reliable newspapers in the UK. GNM’s ‘trustworthy’ score of 82% - based on the Ofcom news omnibus 2013 survey - beat The Telegraph’s score of 72%. GNM titles were also ranked top for ‘importance’, scoring 72%.
A recent study by City University London - which analysed 12 national newspaper titles in terms of combined print and online reading times between 2007 and 2011 - found that the Guardian was the only newspaper which saw reading times increase during the period.
