Posted on 10/31/2006 4:27:46 AM PST by abb
The circulation of the nation’s daily newspapers plunged during the latest reporting period in one of the sharpest declines in recent history, according to data released yesterday. The slide continues a decades-long trend and adds to the woes of a mature industry already struggling with layoffs and facing the potential sale of some of its flagships.
Over all, average daily circulation dropped by 2.8 percent during the six-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with the period last year, according to an industry analysis of data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Circulation for Sunday papers fell by 3.4 percent.
The figures appear to be the steepest in any comparable six-month period in at least 15 years. They come after the sale of the Knight Ridder newspapers this year and in the midst of a possible sale of the Tribune Company, whose assets include 11 newspapers. The circulation losses also follow recent sour earnings reports, raising questions about why anyone would want to buy a newspaper now.
The losses have accelerated as the industry tries to adjust to the steady migration of readers and advertisers to the Internet. Papers in major metropolitan areas, where more homes are wired for broadband, fared worse than those in smaller markets.
Newspaper executives also attribute some of the decline to deliberate strategies to eliminate so-called bulk sales to third-party sponsors that offer papers free in places like hotels. Advertisers view them as having little value because the readers getting them did not pay for them.
The Los Angeles Times lost 8 percent of its daily circulation and 6 percent on Sunday.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2006/10/more-of-less.html
Reflections of a Newsosaur
Musings and (occasional urgent warnings) of a veteran media executive, who fears our news-gathering companies are stumbling to extinction
Monday, October 30, 2006
More of less
To no one’s surprise, circulation continued sliding at most of the nation’s metro papers over the last six months.
But a significant portion of the decline results directly from the industry’s long-term, and arguably long-overdue, initiative to eliminate inefficient vanity and promotional circulation.
This is not to say that bad circulation is a good thing. Just that it may not be as bad as it seems. One can hope…
Average circulation in the last six months fell 2.8% daily and 3.4% Sunday, according to an Editor & Publisher analysis based on reports from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the industry-funded monitoring group.
Some of the drop, doubtless, results from the growing popularity of the digital media. Squeezing lemons into lemonade as fast as it could, the Newspaper Association of America responded to the circulation drop with a study reporting that 58 million Americans visited newspaper websites for an average of 1.37 minutes per day in September.
Notwithstanding the demographic and competitive pressures eroding newspaper readership, a notable, if not precisely quantifiable, portion of the loss results from a strategic restructuring occasioned by the industry’s need to bolster its profitability in the face of weak sales.
To avoid reporting a vertiginous plunge in circulation all at once, most publishers have been whittling away at their non-strategic circulation for the last few years. If and when circulation stabilizes, you will know they have finished their housecleaning. The trimming is taking place in three areas:
:: Vanity circulation – Publishers increasingly are deciding to stop schlepping papers to thinly penetrated locations far from their core markets. Beyond being an expensive indulgence, vanity circulation is little prized by most advertisers. It makes perfect sense to say bye-bye to the boonies.
:: Discount circulation – Although 60% of a typical metro’s circulation consists of loyal subscribers who pay full price, a paper trying to maintain level circulation from year to year is forced to run continuous discount promotions to gain enough “readers” to make up the other 40%. As most advertisers will readily agree, it makes perfect sense for publishers to get off this high-cost, no-win treadmill.
:: Third-party circulation – A few years ago, newspapers got the idea that they could beef up their circulation by getting third parties, like hotels and car dealers, to buy discounted papers that then would then be given to “readers” for free. Given the high cost of producing – and the dubious value of advertising in – giveaway papers, it makes perfect sense for the industry to junk this junk circulation.
With circulation executives exhibiting so much good sense, maybe the news will be better next year. One can hope…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/30/AR2006103000357_pf.html
With Tribune on Block, L.A. Times Circulation Down 8%
Drop is Steepest Among Major U.S. Newspapers
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 31, 2006; D03
The Los Angeles Times lost 8 percent of its daily circulation -- the most of any of the nation's largest newspapers -- over the past six months, potentially lowering its value even as suitors line up to bid on its parent company.
Nationally, newspaper circulation has been sliding since 1987 and the past six months were no exception. Overall circulation was down 2.8 percent from the comparable period last year. But the pain was felt worse in some cities than in others. The smaller-circulation Miami Herald, for example, was down 9 percent for daily and Sunday, while the New York tabloids -- the Post and Daily News -- gained.
The L.A. Times is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co., which has put itself up for sale as the result of a boardroom war. A minority of board members are unhappy with the company's performance over the past year and think the company would be worth more split up or sold off.
On Friday, two private-equity groups -- Bain Capital of Boston and Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston combined with Texas Pacific Group of Fort Worth -- met Tribune's deadline for expressing interest in buying the company, said sources with knowledge of the submissions who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the bidding is private. Tribune's market capitalization is $8 billion.
Tribune's sentimental flagship is the Chicago Tribune, but the L.A. Times is its largest newspaper and accounts for about one-quarter of Tribune revenue. The Times has been at the heart of Tribune's cost-cutting efforts in recent months; Chicago executives fired Times publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson this month for refusing to cut more jobs.
The 8 percent drop in circulation was recorded in April through September and left the Times with a daily circulation of 775,766, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which monitors newspaper sales. The Times's Sunday circulation for the period was down 6 percent, to 1.2 million. The Times publisher said the big drop was attributable to low-value circulation -- such as giveaways -- that the paper cut to save money.
Other Tribune papers fared slightly better. Daily circulation at the Chicago Tribune was down 1.7 percent; the Hartford Courant was down 3.9 percent; the Baltimore Sun was down 4.4 percent; and Newsday was down 4.9 percent.
Tribune shares fell 50 cents in morning trading in reaction to the circulation news but mostly recovered during the day, closing down 2 cents at $33.45.
If the Times's circulation slide is the result of readers actively fleeing the paper, the company's value could be reduced as the sale process goes forward, said James C. Goss, an analyst with Barrington Research Associates Inc. of Chicago. That could lead bidders such as Bain and Lee to lowball Tribune, offering less per share to buy the company.
Analysts place Tribune's value at about $35 per share.
But if the 8 percent loss is the result of what Goss called "corporate choice" -- meaning that Tribune allowed low-value circulation to seep away -- that would be seen as smart corporate policy and could raise the value of the company.
However, allowing overall circulation to drop too far can result in lowered ad rates.
In a written statement, Times publisher David D. Hiller said his paper was focusing on "individually paid circulation," or full-price circulation. In that respect, the Times's circulation was up one-third of 1 percent over the past six months, yesterday's data showed.
Newspapers receive credit for other forms of circulation, such as "third-party sales," when a retailer agrees to buy a large number of newspapers at a reduced rate then give them away as a promotional tool. That kind of Times circulation was down 67 percent, the paper said.
The Washington Post lost 3.3 percent of its daily and 2.6 percent of its Sunday circulation in the same period. The New York Times was down 3.5 percent daily and Sunday. USA Today, the nation's largest newspaper, lost 1.3 percent.
In New York, the tabloid wars have been good for the industry: The New York Post's circulation was up 5 percent, while the Daily News's rose 1 percent.
READERS PUT
POST ON TOP
By BILL HOFFMANN, JENNIFER FERMINO DAVID K. LI & ANDY SOLTIS
October 31, 2006 --
New York Post Is Top Tabloid - Watch Now
Click here to view photo gallery
Thank you, New York!
The New York Post made newspaper history yesterday, leapfrogging the Daily News and The Washington Post to become the fifth-largest paper in the country - and it's all thanks to you.
The Post reported a circulation jump of 5.1 percent, to a whopping 704,011 copies a day Monday to Friday for the six months ended Sept. 30. That's up 34,348 copies from a year ago - and an astounding 274,369 copies a day from 10 years ago.
"This is a great and historic day for The Post," said Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp., which owns The Post.
"We have created a newspaper with a unique voice that reflects the heart and soul of New York, and today's publisher's statement, which for the first time places us ahead of the Daily News and in the top five newspapers in the country, is a testament to the vitality of the paper and the cherished role it plays in the life of this city."
What's your favorite Post headline?
Post your comments here
The new circulation figures, reported in a publisher's statement and subject to audit, prove what savvy New Yorkers have known for years - the Daily News is yesterday's news.
The News' circulation has steadily declined from the nearly 1.3 million copies it sold daily in 1986 - about twice the circulation of The Post at the time - to only 693,382 reported yesterday.
"This is a joyous occasion for the paper and its readers," Post Editor-in-Chief Col Allan said, adding that the secret of the paper's success was simple: Give the people what they want.
"The first question we ask every morning is: What do our readers - our bosses - want to see in tomorrow's paper?" he said. "And then we get it for them - the best sports in town, great gossip and features, hard-hitting news, and opinion that shapes the debate."
Post readers - the famous, the infamous and the just plain Joes - were quick to offer their congratulations on the stunning circulation breakthrough.
"To a paper that is as filthy as my mind - congratulations!" said Madonna, who had just landed in the Big Apple with her newly expanded family.
"Congratulations!" echoed Yoko Ono.
Author Dominick Dunne, chronicler of the rich and the scandalous, said he was genuinely surprised to hear The Post had beaten the News.
"I thought it was already in first place," he said. "It's been a front-runner for me for a long time. I read all the papers every morning, but I always start my day with The Post. It excites me."
Our loyal and ever-growing army of readers is the reason The Post has been able to keep our circulation going north while others are going south. The only papers bigger than us now are USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
And they'd better watch out, because The Post is gunning for them now.
"We're not done yet," said Allan. "This is the most exciting and vibrant newspaper in the country, and our readers know it - that's why they keep spreading the word and we keep getting bigger."
Even the targets of the occasional Post barb - who know we love them deep down - couldn't help but congratulate us on the big news.
"Congratulations on a job well done - 365 days of valuable information! We love the New York Post," said Lizzie Grubman.
"What would New York be without Page Six?" said Alec Baldwin. And it wasn't just celebrities who were celebrating The Post's success yesterday - it was our readers, the people who make us the best paper in the city.
"The Post keeps me updated," said Nancy Beresford, 18, of The Bronx. "There's a lot more info than in other papers. I understand everything that's going on."
Dennis Nobrega, a security guard at Bryant Park, said he loved the daily round-up of cops and robbers. "I like the Blotter. It keeps me informed about neighborhood crime," the Brooklynite said.
In yesterday's figures reported to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, most newspapers saw big drops - with the Los Angeles Times falling 8 percent, the Miami Herald down 8.8 percent, and The New York Times down 3.5 percent.
Former Daily News Editor-in-Chief Ed Kosner said he and the rest of the brass at the city's second-fiddle newspaper knew the writing was on the wall a few years ago - he even forecast The Post overtaking the News in his memoirs.
"In my book, I predicted this would happen right about now," he said yesterday.
Post fans said the paper is simply a "must-read" for anyone who lives in the city. "It's alive. The paper is terrific," said former Mayor Ed Koch. "I start reading newspapers at 5 in the morning every day, and reading The Post is like getting that fresh, first wonderful cup of coffee. That's what it's like reading the New York Post!"
CNN's Larry King said of The Post's surge, "What next? USA Today? This is getting out of hand."
Joan Rivers said she, too, is a longtime Post fan. "I've been reading The Post since it was on papyrus," she quipped. "I love gossip."
And Dick Wolf, the creator and producer of the "Law & Order" empire, called from Canada to get in his two cents: "I read The Post first. Where else would I get my stories?"
bill.hoffmann@nypost.com
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/15889286.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Newspapers report further declines in circulation in 2006
Their Web traffic gained as printed copies continued to drop in the spring and summer.
By Joseph N. DiStefano
Inquirer Staff Writer
Newspaper circulation continued to drop during the spring and summer, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations' yearly sales report for printed newspapers during the six months that ended Sept. 30.
At the same time, newspaper Web sites are attracting a rush of new visitors, according to the Newspaper Association of America, citing data from Nielsen/NetRatings surveys of Internet use.
The gain in newspaper Web readers is greater than the loss in newspaper print sales, according to the association. But that is only modest comfort for publishers, who still depend on print for most of their advertising sales and profits.
Newspaper stocks were mixed yesterday, with Gannett Co. Inc. and the McClatchy Co. down slightly, while Journal Register Co. and the Washington Post Co. rose.
Daily circulation at The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News declined more than 7 percent for the six months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, according to data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which checks newspaper sales for advertisers.
The Inquirer averaged 330,622 weekday sales, down 7.6 percent. The Daily News averaged 112,540, down 7.1 percent. The Sunday Inquirer showed 682,214 sales, a 4.5 percent drop.
It was the first time the twice-yearly data had been posted for Philadelphia since the papers were purchased by Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. in June. "We expect" the next bureau numbers in March "will be better," said Jay Devine, a spokesman for Philadelphia Media.
The Philadelphia newspapers have suffered in the industrywide decline in newspaper advertising by large retailers and other national companies, and publisher and chief executive officer Brian Tierney has said he will have to lay employees off to cut costs.
However, Devine said the company hoped it would be able to increase spending on marketing and promotion, and improve the Web sites it inherited from the newspapers' previous owner, the former Knight Ridder Inc.
The number of monthly visitors to the newspapers' philly.com Web site rose 25 percent, to 1.5 million during July 2006 from 1.2 million a year earlier, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. The service measured "unique visitors" who sampled the sites at least once in a month.
The combination of print and online readership "is what we believe is most appealing to advertisers," Devine said.
Nationally, combined average daily circulation of all 770 newspapers reporting to ABC was 43.7 million, a drop of 2.8 percent. Average combined circulation for 619 Sunday newspapers was 47.6 million, down 3.4 percent.
By contrast, 56.9 million people visited a newspaper Web site at least once during September, up from 53.1 million last October.
Put another way, 1.3 million Americans stopped buying newspapers, on average, each day, while 3.8 million started visiting newspaper Web sites at least once a month. (The typical national newspaper Web site visitor checks in twice a week, according to Nielsen/ NetRatings.)
Separately, Philadelphia Media told workers in a company bulletin that it expects to settle contracts with unions representing half of its 2,000 unionized workers by tonight's deadline.
The company said the exception was the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia. The Guild, a unit of the Communications Workers of America, is the newspapers' largest union; it represents advertising, newsroom and circulation workers.
More than 400 marchers attended a noontime rally sponsored by the Guild outside the newspapers' headquarters yesterday. Speakers, including local officers of the AFL-CIO, NAACP, and Communications Workers of America union, called on Philadelphia Media to rescind plans to freeze the Guild's pension plan and alter seniority practices.
Although Guild members voted last week to give his bargaining committee the power to call a strike, Guild president Henry J. Holcomb, an Inquirer reporter, said "we will keep working as long as there's hope of getting a contract."
Joe Lyons, head of the council uniting the newspapers' non-Guild locals, said before the rally that his council was not participating, and that it "might get advertisers upset." Negotiations for the Guild and other major unions at the newspapers were scheduled to continue today.
Largest Declines
Of the nation's newspapers with daily circulation of more than 100,000, the following reported the largest percentage decreases for the six months ended Sept. 30.
Newspaper, metro area Pct. chg.
1. Boston Herald... -11.7%
2. Daily News, Los Angeles... -10.7%
3. San Jose Mercury News... -9.4%
4. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette... -8.8%
Miami Herald... -8.8%
6. Los Angeles Times... -8.0%
7. Akron Beacon Journal... -7.9%
8. Contra Costa Times... -7.6%
Philadelphia Inquirer... -7.6%
10. State, Columbia, S.C... . -7.1%
Philadelphia Daily News... -7.1%
SOURCE: Audit Bureau of Circulations
Contact staff writer Joseph N. DiStefano at 215-854-5957 or jdistefano@phillynews.com.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0610310218oct31,0,7537507.story?coll=chi-business-hed
Circulation for biggest papers shows few signs of turnaround
Advertisement
By Phil Rosenthal
Tribune media columnist
October 31, 2006
Save only for the warring tabloids, the New York Post and New York Daily News, 18 of the top 20 U.S. newspapers showed slippage in average weekday circulation in the six-month period ending in September, according to figures reported Monday by Schaumburg-based Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The decades-long decline is becoming old news for the newspaper sector, with the latest estimated year-to-year drop among all reporting papers of 2.8 percent weekdays and about 3.4 percent on Sundays.
Fitch Ratings, a global credit-rating agency, said the overall circulation trends are consistent with expectations.
"Larger markets, where there is higher penetration of broadband connections and more competing alternatives for consumer attention, continue to be disproportionately negatively affected," Fitch reported.
Fitch said this threatens to accelerate the shift of advertising dollars, particularly national and classified advertising, to other media, which has caused considerable concern on Wall Street.
"This activity [is expected to] continue to pressure newspaper company share prices and force some management teams to contemplate revisions to their capital structure parameters," Fitch said.
The Newspaper Association of America, an industry group, offered its own analysis to counterbalance the circulation decline. Citing statistics from Nielsen/Net Ratings, the association said that among more than 100 newspapers in top markets, newspaper Web sites increased total audience by an average of 8 percent.
"At a time when competition for audiences is at an all-time high, it is more vital than ever for newspapers to provide information that most accurately reflects total audience," association President and Chief Executive John Sturm said in a prepared statement. "Data that measure the expanded audience is precisely what advertisers want to enhance their understanding of consumer use across newspapers' multiple media platforms. Simply focusing on print circulation numbers in a vacuum obscures that understanding."
The Chicago Tribune, with declines in total paid circulation of 1.7 percent weekdays and 1.3 percent Sundays, was able to pick up ground by losing less circulation than others.
In fact, the Tribune is now the third-largest Sunday paper in the country, with 937,907 copies, overtaking the Washington Post, because the Post suffered a roughly 3.7 percent slide to slip to fourth, at 930,619. The Tribune reported separately that its Sunday home-delivery circulation is 693,978, which the paper says is an all-time high and up 2.8 percent from last year.
The Tribune is the No. 8 weekday paper nationally, at 576,132, down from 586,122. Part of that year-to-year decline was attributed to the shift of its RedEye edition to entirely free distribution. Individually paid circulation from home delivery and single-copy sales of the Tribune was up 0.1 percent, to 554,180.
All 11 daily Tribune Co. newspapers showed declines, in part because the company is among those in the industry focusing more on individual paid circulation than bulk sales.
Tribune's Los Angeles Times, the nation's No. 2 Sunday paper and No. 4 weekday paper, slipped 6.1 percent on Sundays, to 1,172,005 copies, and fell 8 percent daily, to 775,766. Another steep plunge came at Tribune's Baltimore Sun, which fell 9.1 percent on Sundays.
Not included in the ABC numbers were the Chicago Sun-Times and the Dallas Morning News, which because of previous circulation misstatements are required to undergo additional audits.
In the suburbs, Paddock Publications Inc.'s Daily Herald of Arlington Heights showed a gain of 171 copies weekdays, to 151,200. Its Sunday edition was up 190 copies, to 151,767.
Gannett Co.'s USA Today remains the top paper in paid weekday circulation despite a 1.3 percent decline, to 2,269,509, followed by Dow Jones Co.'s Wall Street Journal (down 1.9 percent, to 2,043,235) and New York Times (down 3.5 percent, to 1,086,798).
The New York Times is the No. 1 Sunday paper, slipping 3.5 percent, to 1,623,697 copies.
New York's Post and Daily News each gained circulation. The Post's 5.1 percent increase, to 704,011, enabled it to move into fifth place in daily circulation, surging past the Daily News, which rose 1 percent, to 693,382, and Washington Post, which fell 3.3 percent, to 656,297.
- - -
Numbers off
With the exception of two competing New York City tabloids, weekday circulation for the top U.S. newspapers declined during the latest six-month audit period. The top Sunday editions also lost readers.
AVERAGE WEEKDAY CIRCULATION
For the top 10 U.S. papers
NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION CHANGE FROM 2005
AS OF SEPT. 30
USA Today 2,269,509 -1.32%
Wall Street Journal 2,043,235 -1.94
New York Times 1,086,798 -3.50
Los Angeles Times 775,766 -8.02
New York Post 704,011 +5.13
New York Daily News 693,382 +1.04
Washington Post 656,297 -3.31
Chicago Tribune 576,132 -1.70
Houston Chronicle 508,097 -3.69
Newsday 410,579 -4.95
AVERAGE SUNDAY CIRCULATION
For the top 5 U.S. papers
NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION CHANGE FROM 2005
AS OF SEPT. 30
New York Times 1,623,697 -3.50
Los Angeles Times 1,172,005 -6.06
Chicago Tribune 937,907 -1.33
Washington Post 930,619 -3.65
New York Daily News 780,196 -0.15
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations
Chicago Tribune
Even that number is inflated. Most hotels put copies of USA today in front of guest room doors every day. Half of them end up being picked up by housekeeping staff a few hours later (my observation, anyway). I'll bet actual voluntary paid circulation is much lower.
Fewer readers of papers
Circulation drops at daily publications again nationwide
- Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
U.S. daily newspaper circulation slumped 2.8 percent and Sunday circulation fell 3.4 percent during the six months that ended in September, according to industry data released Monday.
The continuing circulation tumble -- the fourth consecutive decline tracked by the industry's semiannual report -- underscored the rapid migration of readers to the Internet and other news sources.
The numbers are from the Newspaper Association of America's analysis of data supplied by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Daily total circulation of 43.7 million was based on data for 770 newspapers, while Sunday total circulation of 47.6 million was based on 619 newspapers.
The Newspaper Association put a positive spin on the Internet migration. Combining print circulation with views of newspaper Web sites shows the total audience growing by 8 percent, after eliminating duplication, it said. That analysis was based on Web usage data supplied by Nielsen/NetRatings.
The trade group said 36.5 percent of all Internet users, almost 57 million people, viewed newspaper Web sites during the July-through-September period, up 24 percent from the same time last year. Those visitors averaged more than 41 minutes each per month on the sites, up 10.9 percent from 2005.
"Readership is a better metric than circulation," said John Kimball, chief marketing officer at the Newspaper Association in Tysons Corner, Va. People living together who share papers -- what is called pass-along readership -- aren't counted in circulation figures, he said. And adding in Internet users improves the picture. "On average, most newspaper Web sites lift their total audiences something in the neighborhood of 7 to 8 percent when you add the Web site into the print product," Kimball said.
But online advertising rates are much lower than those for print. Kimball said most newspapers bring in about 7 to 9 percent of their revenue from their Internet enterprises, although that revenue is growing at a healthy 25 to 30 percent a year.
Experts said it is imperative for newspapers to learn how to balance the needs of their audience with the transition to digital delivery.
"Newspapers have not yet figured out how to continue giving a rich diet of information to their existing print audience while persuading the online audience that their factual presentation of news is the most reliable," said James Naughton, retired president of the Poynter Institute and former executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "The mistake too many organizations are making is to say, 'Let's slash the newsroom so we can do a better job of building an audience on the Internet.' That's like saying we don't care about our audience. Some people are leaving (newspaper subscriptions) because they're disgusted with the diminishing value of the print product."
Many newspapers show lower circulation numbers because they have cut back on discounted subscriptions, as well as papers delivered to schools, hotels, hospitals and other public places.
Still, the most recent numbers show clear evidence of newspapers failing to hold on to subscribers. Of the top 20 newspapers, only two -- rival tabloids the New York Post and the New York Daily News -- had circulation increases.
At The Chronicle, which was the 14th-largest paper as measured by circulation, daily circulation fell 5.3 percent to 373,805, and Sunday circulation fell 7.3 percent to 432,957.
Daily circulation plummeted in some major cities. At the Los Angeles Times, it fell 8 percent to 775,766. At the Boston Globe, it was down 6.7 percent to 386,415. Both papers are considered acquisition targets.
At the country's two largest papers, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, circulation drops were better than average. USA Today fell 1.3 percent to 2,269,509, while the Journal dropped 1.9 percent to 2,043,235. At the third-largest paper, the New York Times, daily circulation was down 3.5 percent to 1,086,789.
E-mail Carolyn Said at csaid@sfchronicle.com.
Shrinking audiences
Average paid weekday circulation of the nation's 20 largest newspapers
for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, as reported Monday by the Audit
Bureau of Circulations. Change is from the comparable period last year.
Rank Paper Circulation Change
1 USA
Today 2,269,509 -1.3%
2 Wall Street Journal 2,043,235 -1.9
3 New York Times 1,086,798 -3.5
4 Los Angeles Times 775,766 -8.0
5 New York Post 704,011 +5.1
6 New York Daily News 693,382 +1.0
7 Washington Post 656,297 -3.3
8 Chicago Tribune 576,132 -1.7
9 Houston Chronicle 508,097 -3.7
10 Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) 410,579 -5.0
11 Arizona Republic 397,294 -2.6
12 Boston Globe 386,415 -6.7
13 Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger 378,100 -5.5
14 The Chronicle 373,805 -5.3
15 Minneapolis Star Tribune 358,887 -4.2
16 Atlanta Journal-Constitution 350,157 -3.5
17 Cleveland Plain Dealer 336,939 -0.6
18 Philadelphia Inquirer 330,622 -7.6
19 Detroit Free Press 328,628 -3.6
20 Portland Oregonian 310,803 -6.8
.
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations
Page D - 1
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/31/BUG70M2SFC1.DTL
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003332031&zsection_id=2002119995&slug=circ31&date=20061031
Circulation falls again at Times, P-I; online readers up
By Eric Pryne
Seattle Times staff reporter
Circulation at Seattle's two daily newspapers continued to drop over the past year, according to figures released Monday.
The decline is part of a long-running, industrywide trend. But executives at The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer maintained that their total regional audience, print and online, actually is growing.
A trade association said that's also true of newspapers nationally.
Average weekday circulation for the six-month period that ended Sept. 30 dipped 1.3 percent at The Seattle Times and 4.9 percent at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from the same period a year earlier, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The Times' weekday circulation for the latest reporting period was 212,691, and the P-I's was 126,225, the bureau said.
Circulation of the Sunday newspaper, which is produced almost entirely by The Times but bears the mastheads of both newspapers, dropped 4.1 percent, to 423,275.
The latest declines are less precipitous than those of a year ago, when The Times reported a 7 percent slide and the P-I a 9 percent drop in weekday circulation compared with the previous year. At that time, the papers blamed the declines on one-time moves — a newsstand price increase and a decision to cut circulation in parts of Eastern Washington — and said circulation would start to level out soon.
Circulations down
The average paid weekday circulation for the largest U.S. newspapers was down at all but two papers for the six-month period ended Sept. 30
Paper % change
USA Today -1.3
The Wall Street Journal -1.9
The New York Times -3.5
Los Angeles Times -8.0
New York Post +5.1
New York Daily News +1.0
The Washington Post -3.3
Chicago Tribune -1.7
Houston Chronicle -3.7
Newsday -5.0
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations
The Associated Press
Times Vice President Jill Mackie said Monday that the new numbers bear out that prediction. "It's certainly much better news than we have been getting, and more reflective of our real numbers instead of our cutbacks," she said.
But circulation numbers alone no longer reflect newspaper readership accurately, Mackie added.
P-I Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby agreed: "We have an audience out there that we're reaching in different ways," he said.
Scarborough Research of New York reports that total readership of the two newspapers and their affiliated Web sites in the Greater Seattle area during the 12-month period that ended in February, increased 0.5 percent from the previous year. That's largely because of an 8.3 percent increase in the regional online audience.
The Newspaper Association of America, a trade association, said newspaper Web sites attracted 58 million unique viewers in September, up from 41 million two years earlier. That demonstrates "the importance of applying measurement techniques that more accurately reflect the total newspaper audience," the group said.
Oglesby said the P-I's Web site is getting 30 million page views a month. Mackie said The Times' site attracted more than 37 million page views in September.
Newspapers still rely on the ink-and-paper product for most of their revenue, however. That's why declining print circulation is a major concern.
Nationally, weekday circulation among the 770 newspapers whose totals were reported Monday fell 2.8 percent during the most recent six-month period. The P-I's decline was steeper than that, The Times' less severe.
But Oglesby said that because the papers are bound by a joint-operating agreement (JOA), advertisers are more interested in the total for both papers: a 2.7 percent slide.
He wouldn't discuss why the P-I's circulation continues to drop faster than The Times'. In the past, however, officials at the P-I's parent, The Hearst Corp., have accused The Times of working to sabotage the smaller paper.
Times officials have denied that charge, arguing that readers are choosing the higher-quality product.
Under the 23-year-old JOA, The Times handles circulation and other business functions for both papers, while each maintains competing news and editorial operations.
The Times, which says it has lost money under the arrangement for each of the past six years, has moved to exercise an escape clause in the JOA that could result in termination of the agreement, the P-I's closure or both.
Hearst, which says the P-I couldn't survive outside the JOA, is fighting that attempt.
An arbitrator is scheduled to decide the dispute in the spring.
Few cities Seattle's size still have competing daily newspapers. The Times has maintained for years that the local market no longer can support both. Mackie said Monday that the latest circulation numbers support that view.
Falling circulation is one of several interrelated problems plaguing the newspaper industry. Ad revenue is mostly stagnant and competition from the Internet more intense.
The profits and stock prices of publicly traded newspaper companies are down. Many papers are laying off or buying out employees.
Other area newspapers also saw weekday circulation declines during the six-month reporting period: 5.7 percent at The (Tacoma) News-Tribune; 3.5 percent at the Kent-based King County Journal; and 1.5 percent at The (Everett) Herald.
Nationally, The New York Times' weekday circulation dropped 3.5 percent; The Washington Post's, 3.3 percent; the Los Angeles Times', 8 percent; and the San Francisco Chronicle's, 5.3 percent.
Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/10/31/state_newspaper_sales_fall_faster_than_the_us_average?mode=PF
State newspaper sales fall faster than the US average
By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff | October 31, 2006
Circulation at Massachusetts daily newspapers fell faster than the national average over the past year, according to newspaper industry groups.
The Boston Globe's average daily circulation declined 7 percent to about 386,000 in the six months ended Sept. 30, from 414,000 a year earlier.
Daily circulation of the Boston Herald fell 12 percent, to 203,000 from 230,000, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, an independent group that monitors newspaper circulation and readership.
The Globe's Sunday circulation fell 10 percent to 587,000 from 652,000. The Herald's Sunday sales fell 13 percent, to 115,000 from 132,000.
Nationally, daily newspaper circulation fell 2.8 percent, according to an analysis of the audit bureau's data by the Newspaper Association of America. Sunday circulation fell 3.4 percent nationally.
With a technically sophisticated population, Massachusetts is probably seeing readers migrate to Internet news sources faster than the national average, said Lou Ureneck, chairman of Boston University's journalism department.
"It seems ironic that a state with a well-educated, news-hungry population would show reductions in newspaper circulation," Ureneck said. "But this state is an early adopter of technology and highly wired."
Indeed, newspapers across the country are struggling with the transition from print to online media. While online editions are attracting record numbers of readers, they aren't making enough money to offset shrinking circulation and advertising revenues from print.
As a result, some big media companies, such as Tribune Co. of Chicago, are putting papers up for sale to satisfy Wall Street's hunger for bigger profits. In Boston, a local group led by former General Electric Co. chairman Jack Welch and Jack Connors, cofounder of the Boston advertising firm Hill Holliday, is considering a bid to buy the Globe from The New York Times Co.
Average daily newspaper circulation in Massachusetts fell 6 percent overall, as many other Massachusetts dailies reported circulation declines that were steeper than the national average.
Among the largest papers outside of Boston, the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester reported an 11 percent decline in average daily circulation. The T&G, like the Globe, is owned by The New York Times Co. Among other big papers in the state, circulation at The Patriot Ledger of Quincy fell 4 percent and was down 3.5 percent at the Republican of Springfield.
At the Globe, spokesman Alfred S. Larkin Jr. attributed some of the paper's circulation loss to the migration to the Internet. In the same six-month period the Globe's circulation was falling, unique visits to the Globe's online affiliate, Boston.com, averaged 3.9 million a month, up from 3.6 million a year earlier.
"The Globe continues to develop a strategy across print and digital media," Larkin said. "We are continuing to try and build our print readership, while building our online viewership."
Other factors contributing to the decline included cancellations following the accidental release early this year of subscribers' credit card information, Larkin said. In addition, the Globe continues to purposely cut its bulk sales, in which single parties, such as a hotels, schools or airlines, buy many papers, typically at a discount, and distribute them, often for free.
Advertisers look less favorably on bulk circulation because it's difficult to track how many papers actually end up in readers' hands and who those readers are.
Larkin said bulk sales reductions accounted for about one-seventh of daily circulation loss and about half of Sunday's decline
Gwen Gage, spokeswoman for the Herald, said the tabloid cut its daily bulk sales by more than 20,000 papers, accounting for about 80 percent of its daily circulation loss. Bulk sales reductions accounted for about one-fourth of the Sunday losses. Still, Gage said, the paper's readership is growing through its website. The number of unique visitors to the site has increased to 2.1 million a month, an increase of about 500,000 from a year earlier.
Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bznews4954463oct31,0,4671585,print.story?coll=ny-business-print
Newspaper readership still slipping
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BY TOM INCANTALUPO
Newsday Staff Writer
October 31, 2006
Most of the nation's largest newspapers, including Newsday, lost still more readers in the six months ending Sept. 30, an industry group said yesterday. Analysts said some of it was voluntary as papers trimmed unprofitable circulation, but that the industry continued to lose ground to electronic and Internet news outlets.
In New York, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal also slipped while the New York Daily News and New York Post countered the trend with increases in daily circulation of 1 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, that put the Post ahead of the News for the first time.
Average paid weekday circulation at 770 U.S. newspapers reporting fell by 2.8 percent in the six-month period from a year earlier, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, to 43.7 million. Sunday circulation fell by 3.4 percent, to 47.6 million.
The nation's largest paper, USA Today, reported a 1.3 percent drop, to 2.3 million, while No.2 Wall Street Journal fell 1.9 percent to 2,043,235 copies. The New York Times, the third largest, reported daily circulation fell by 3.5 percent from a year earlier, to 1,086,798. Circulation at Newsday, the 10th largest paper, fell by 5 percent, to 410,579 copies.
Media analyst Edward Atorino for the Manhattan brokerage The Benchmark Co. said the average decline was no surprise but that some individual ones stood out, including an 8 percent drop, to 775,766 copies, in daily circulation at the Los Angeles Times, a property of Newsday's owner, Tribune Co. of Chicago. "That's a shocker," he said.
He said papers, including the Los Angeles Times, were cutting back on bulk sales to schools, hotels and the like, which are considered less valuable by advertisers, and also on sales in geographical fringe areas. Other factors in the declines, aside from TV and the Internet, he said, are "do not call" laws that inhibit marketing, and the tendencies of young people to begin reading newspapers later in life than their predecessors, and of older people to stop earlier.
Los Angeles Times publisher David D. Hiller said, "The September statement reflects our ongoing focus on individually paid circulation - the audience advertisers value most."
Atorino attributed the Post's gain to its gossipy Page Six and to contests and other marketing tactics. "They give away a lot of stuff and have all kinds of games," he said. "They promote the hell out of the paper."
Post editor-in-chief Col Allan contended that the Daily News runs just as many contests, though he conceded that Page Six is a major draw. "I just think we have more fun producing the paper," he said. "It has more energy and it's more readable."
But the accuracy of the Post's figures has been the subject of debate between the two papers; an article last week in the News quoted the Audit Bureau saying the Post last year overstated about 6,000 daily sales a day and the number of papers sold in the metropolitan area by more than 10,000 a day.
Newsday publisher Timothy Knight said in a statement to employees that the Long Island paper's figures reflected a focus on full-price home delivery circulation and single copy sales at retail outlets. "We will continue to focus on circulation and readership initiatives that attract and retain readers that are of the highest value to our advertisers," Knight said.
Tribune Co.'s Chicago Tribune newspaper reported a 1.7 percent drop in circulation, to 576,132 copies, in the half year ended Sept. 30.
Under pressure from investors, Tribune management is looking into a possible sale or breakup of the company.
The Newspaper Association of America, a trade group based in Vienna, Va., said the circulation figures fail to reflect significant gains in readers of news-paper Web sites, to a record 58 million during September.
Association president John F. Sturm said in a statement, "The circulation figures are in range with what we expected as publishers are refocusing their marketing efforts on adding and retaining the readers that deliver most value to advertisers and make economic sense."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06304/734254-28.stm
Newspaper circulation continues to decline
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
By Anya Sostek, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
If circulation figures released yesterday are any indication, things are going from bad to worse in the newspaper industry -- and the Post-Gazette is no exception.
Nationwide, daily newspaper circulation fell an average of 2.8 percent over a six-month period ending in September, according to Newspaper Association of America calculations of figures released by the Chicago-based Audit Bureau of Circulation.
Sunday circulation fell 3.4 percent nationwide over the same time period.
At the Post-Gazette in the last six months, daily circulation fell 8.1 percent, from 230,887 to 212,075, and Sunday circulation fell 7.1 percent, from 382,238 to 354,966.
Post-Gazette President David Beihoff attributed the circulation decline in part to a price increase on Sunday single-copy sales and in part to the elimination of some third-party sales, such as papers sponsored by advertisers that were given away at Steelers games.
"I'm proud that we still have close to a million in net weekly readership," he said.
Daily circulation fell 5.8 percent at the Greensburg Tribune-Review, from 106,671 to 100,478. Sunday circulation there remained virtually unchanged, gaining 20 subscribers to 158,001.
Both Pittsburgh newspapers continue to rank well in Web site usage. Figures from July 2006 released by Nielsen/NetRatings show the Post-Gazette ranked 24th in the nation among newspapers with 1,167,037 unique visitors, and the Tribune-Review ranked 56th, with 588,084 unique users.
Under the new daily circulation numbers, the Post-Gazette ranks 39th among U.S. newspapers, not including the Dallas Morning News and the Chicago Sun-Times, which have yet to report updated figures.
(Anya Sostek can be reached at asostek@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1308.)
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-newspapers3106oct31,0,3081461.story?coll=orl-business-headlines
Florida's newspapers post declines in circulation
Tim Barker
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 31, 2006
Newspaper circulation across the state took another dip during the latest six-month reporting period.
Average weekday circulation -- a key industry measure -- fell 2.7 percent to 2.4 million for the bulk of the state's daily papers, according to the latest figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. At least two newspapers did not file in time to be included in the report.
Leading the decline was The Miami Herald, which saw its average weekday circulation fall nearly 9 percent to 265,583. Circulation at the state's largest newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times, fell 3.2 percent to 288,676.
The Orlando Sentinel's average daily circulation fell 2.5 percent to 214,283 -- performing slightly better than the state as a whole. Sunday circulation, however, dropped 4.3 percent, compared with a 3.8 percent drop for the entire state.
The Sentinel's circulation has fallen significantly during the past few years following a decision to cut back on distribution through area hotels. Two years ago, the paper boasted a circulation of nearly 250,000.
"We've focused our attention on building overall newspaper and Web audience, and stabilizing Orlando Sentinel's circulation in our core market," said Avido Khahaifa, general manager for Orlando Sentinel Communications.
The Miami Herald is employing a similar strategy -- accounting for its significant decline -- eliminating circulation with lesser appeal to advertisers interested in reaching Miami residents, rather than tourists.
"Most of the decline is attributable to a planned reduction in circulation," said Robert Beatty, a spokesman for the Herald.
These declines are hardly new for an industry that continues to struggle to retain readers at a time when the media is increasingly fragmented. Competition comes from television, radio, cable, satellite and the Internet.
Nationwide, average weekday circulation for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2006, declined 2.8 percent. Sunday circulation fell 3.4 percent.
"It isn't something that just started to happen last week," said John Kimball, chief marketing officer for the Newspaper Association of America.
The industry, he said, is in a state of transition from a pure newspaper product to one that offers a variety of ways for subscribers to get their news. Judging a newspaper by its paid circulation is an increasingly flawed system, he said.
"Other media are measured by viewership, not by how many television sets are purchased," Kimball said.
Newspaper Web sites are an increasingly important component for the industry. According to the association's analysis of more than 100 top newspapers, Web sites generated significant increases in readers. Total audience grew an average of 8 percent for those newspapers.
Still, not every paper in Florida saw a decline in circulation, with five of the state's smaller papers reporting gains. The largest increase? The Villages Daily Sun saw its average weekday circulation surge 14.6 percent to 26,128.
Tim Barker can be reached at 407-420-5022 or tbarker@orlandosentinel.com.
http://www.startribune.com/535/story/777385.html
Circulation falls at Star Tribune, many major papers
Staff and wire reports
The Star Tribune and most other big daily newspapers continued to lose circulation in the six months ended in September, according to data released Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Average daily circulation for the Star Tribune declined to 358,887, down 4.2 percent from the year-ago period, and average Sunday circulation dropped 6.4 percent to 596,333. That makes the Star Tribune the 15th-largest U.S. newspaper in daily circulation (or the 13th-largest metro daily excluding national dailies USA Today and the Wall Street Journal). On Sundays, the Star Tribune ranked 10th in circulation, according to the bureau's audit for the period ended Sept. 24.
Average daily circulation for all reporting U.S. newspapers was down 2.8 percent, while Sunday circulation was down about 3.4 percent, according to Newspaper Association of America calculations.
U.S. newspaper circulation has been declining steadily on an annual basis since 1987, according to the association, as papers face increasing competition for consumers' time and attention from other media such as the Internet and cable television.
Of the 25 largest newspapers, only three showed growth in daily circulation: the New York Post, up 5.1 percent to 704,011; the New York Daily News, up 1 percent to 693,382, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, up 0.7 percent to 276,588.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press also registered circulation gains, rising 0.2 percent to a daily average of 188,427 and up 0.2 percent to a Sunday average of 245,597, the newspaper reported. The increases "confirm the Pioneer Press' momentum and the success of our local news strategy," Publisher Par Ridder said in a prepared statement.
Ben Taylor, Star Tribune senior vice president for marketing and communications, blamed the Star Tribune's circulation decline largely on "do not call" laws; newspapers no longer can rely on telemarketing to sell more subscriptions. He said, however, that despite lower circulation, readership continues to grow.
The Star Tribune is now reaching 37 percent of its market, he said, up from 35.5 percent a year ago, which he attributed to the newspaper's redesign last year. "We're focused on increasing readership," Taylor said.
Since we cancelled out local newspaper subscription (owned by the NYT), we have to do a lot more scrounging to meet our ongoing need. If it weren't for frequent visits to our local coffee shop where we get free used newspapers, I don't know what we would do. But what if there are no more available someday?
It's a crisis, for sure. One can't line a cat box with what one downloads from the internet!
Ken, post a link to that one. Looks like a keeper...
Here are the top 25 daily newspapers in the U.S. by circulation (with percent change) for the six-month period ending September 2006.
1. USA Today, 2,269,509, down 1.3 percent
2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,043,235, down 1.9 percent
3. The New York Times, 1,086,798, down 3.5 percent
4. Los Angeles Times, 775,766, down 8 percent
5. New York Post, 704,011, up 5.1 percent
6. New York Daily News, 693,382 up 1 percent
7. The Washington Post, 656,297, down 3.3 percent
8. Chicago Tribune, 576,132, down 1.7 percent
9. Houston Chronicle, 508,097, down 3.7 percent
10. Newsday, Long Island, 410,579, down 5 percent
11. The Arizona Republic, 397,294, down 2.6 percent
12. The Boston Globe, 386,415, down 6.7 percent
13. The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., 378,100, down 5.5 percent
14. San Francisco Chronicle, 373,805, down 5.4 percent
15. Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 358,887, down 4.2 percent
16. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 350,157, down 3.5 percent
17. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 336,939, down 0.6 percent
18. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 330,622, down 7.6 percent
19. Detroit Free Press, 328,628, down 3.6 percent
20. The Oregonian, 310,803, down 6.8 percent
21. The San Diego Union-Tribune: 304,334, (-3.1%)
22. St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times: 288,676, (-3.2%)
23. The Orange County (Calif.) Register: 287,204, (-3.7%)
24. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 276,588, 0.6%
25. The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee: 273,609, (-5.4%)
Virtual Pressroom
... Members of the accredited press are invited to apply for an ABC Press Pass. If approved, will be granted reporter access to ABC online data, which includes the FAS-FAX in both PDF and Excel formats.
No link..it was a one page insert inside my paper...
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