MANILA, Philippines?The Philippine Daily Inquirer remained the No. 1 newspaper in the country and the choice broadsheet for the upper and middle classes (ABC) in Metro Manila and other urban centers for the first half of the year, according to The Nielsen Company.

The latest Nielsen Media Index study results for the first half of 2009 found that the Inquirer was the choice of about half of Filipinos (48 percent) in National Urban Philippines who said they had read a broadsheet the day before.

National Urban Philippines refers to Metro Manila and 21 key cities in the country.

Forty-four percent said they read the Manila Bulletin and 28 percent said they read the Philippine Star.

This translates to 1.12 million readers for the Inquirer, 1.03 million readers for the Bulletin and 663,285 for the Star, according to Nielsen.

The Inquirer also led among classes ABC nationwide, with a 49-percent readership. Coming second, the Bulletin had 45 percent, while the Star had 31 percent.

Among classes ABC in Metro Manila, the Inquirer was also on top with a 47-percent readership, while the Bulletin and the Star had 46 and 30 percent, respectively.

The Inquirer also led among ABC classes in the Visayas, where it had a 75-percent readership, while the Star had 49 percent and the Bulletin 31 percent.

In Mindanao, among classes ABC, the Inquirer had 75 percent, the Star 26 percent and the Bulletin 20 percent.

In the same study, Inquirer Libre, another Inquirer publication, was found to be No. 1 free newspaper in Metro Manila.

Inquirer Libre is distributed at MRT, LRT1, and LRT2 stations and in member universities of the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) and the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).

Bandera, also an Inquirer sister publication, ranked first in yesterday readership among tabloid readers in the Visayas and Mindanao with 28 percent.

The Nielsen results for the first half of 2009 represent the average of the results for the first quarter and second quarter surveys, which were conducted from February to March and from May to June this year, respectively.

The first-half study covered 8,000 respondents aged 10 years and older from all socioeconomic classes in Metro Manila; the cities of Baguio, Dagupan, Tuguegarao, Olongapo, Angeles, Antipolo, Cavite, San Pablo, Legazpi, Puerto Princesa and Malolos in Luzon; the cities of Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete and Tacloban in the Visayas; and the cities of Davao, Iligan, Zamboanga, General Santos and Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao.

It had a margin of error of plus-minus 1 percentage point.

The Nielsen Company has been providing different industries with unmatched advertising intelligence, media measurement and advanced analytical tools in media for over 30 years.