It's a new world out there in UK print media.

According to The Audit Bureau of Circulations, it seems that shortened editions of newspapers could be a good idea, as for the first time ever i's circulation has topped that of The Independent.

What's more, since The News of the World phone-hacking scandal hit News International, things have changed in the circulation game.

OK, so things aren't entirely different - News International is still pretty powerful and print editions are still suffering from an incremental year-on-year drop in circulation, causing ever more anxiety about the fate of the industry - but despite this, the media landscape of Britain does seem to be changing.

According to figures from Mediatel, Associated Newspapers now has the greatest market share of any publishing group. However, the margin is a close one, as in July Associated Newspapers held a market share of 29.95% while News International had 28.76%, as reported by The Press Gazette.

This leaves the two companies jostling at the top, grasping for the coveted position of market leader, as their other rivals, Mirror Group Newspapers along with Northern and Shell, the two next largest publishing groups in Britain, simply cannot compete. Both Associated Newspapers and News International have more than double the weekly circulation of their competitors.

So British media is not entirely free from the market forces of large publishing houses, but there is yet more hope for market diversity. The Daily Mirror has seen month-on-month circulation increases and its Sunday edition is doing equally as well.

After the closure of The News of The World, The Sunday Mirror, owned by the Mirror Group, seems to be the title that has managed to win the biggest share of the Sunday tabloid market. However, most Sunday editions seem to have gained some percentage of NoWs readership, providing most with a welcome boost in circulation. Read more on the Sunday tabloid market at The Press Gazette.

While the circulation of the Indie dropped by 0.59% over the year, according to the ABC, i has enjoyed a month on month increase of 6%, as reported by Brand Republic: this led to the cut-price, mini-edition overtaking its parent publication for the very first time in July.

Ultimately, this leaves the British print media market - post-NoW - in a very interesting position. Murdoch is no longer top dog, The Mirror Group has shown papers from smaller publishers are in with a chance of making market gains - and will the success of i prompt more cut-price, smaller editions? Who knows, but these figures certainly show that the game is not up for UK print media. In fact, it's still all to play for...

Sources: The Audit Bureau of Circulations, Brand Republic , The Guardian, The Press Gazette (1) , (2) ,