The latest newspaper and magazine readership figures from Eulogy! client the National Readership Survey make grim reading for some of Britain’s most prestigious titles.

NRS is not at liberty to give opinions on individual titles as the industry remains its paymaster. It is jointly funded by the Newspaper Publishers Association, Periodical Publishers Association and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. But a trawl through the latest quarterly NRS survey data release reveals some interesting trends in newspapers and magazines.

Firstly, the data just released for the period ending September 2009 shows that only four of 12 nationals papers in the survey have increased readership in the year from September 08, with the other two-thirds in decline. The FT is doing well at least, with a 12 per cent increase. Conversely, the self-admittedly struggling Independent is down 12 per cent. NRS reports that Northern & Shell’s Daily Star was the only paper to boost both readership (9 per cent) and circulation (14 per cent) during the year in question. Only two Sundays, the Daily Star Sunday and The Sunday Times, increased readership, with dips for all the other titles.

It is a similar picture for lads’ mags – Stuff seeing the only increase overall – with former market leader Loaded down 27 per cent and stalwart FHM dropping 6 per cent.

So where are all the readers going? Undoubtedly people are watching their pennies at the moment and a magazine that costs a few quid may no longer be flavour of the month. It’s harder to tell what’s going on with national newspapers, as the figures seem to contradict those ABC figures combed by Eulogy! last week with the conclusion that, despite the plethora of free online news sources, people still value print editions.

Whatever the reason, the figures don’t lie. The national newspaper and magazine market is in general decline, and one way or another – be it monetising internet-based current affairs or revolutionising the print market beyond simple price wars – publishers must innovate to persuade the great British reader that it’s still worth turning out their pockets on a regular basis to keep up with the latest news and trends.