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.)
Great post!