Newspaper Circulation Continues to De
cline;
USA Today Leads Pack
5/8/2006
By: Seth Sutel, Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent
in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, as
the industry continued to struggle with competition from other media outlets and
the Internet.
The decline in average paid weekday circulation was about the same as the
previous time newspapers reported six-month circulation figures for the period
ending last September, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a
trade group.
The NAA reported that average paid circulation at Sunday newspapers fell 3.1
percent versus the same period a year ago, also a comparable decline with the
last time circulation figures were reported.
The decline in average paid weekday circulation was about the same as last
September, the previous time newspapers reported six-month circulation. Despite
the declines in paid copies, the industry group reported Monday that
newspaper-run Web sites had an 8 percent increase in viewers in the first
quarter. The data from Nielsen/NetRatings found that newspaper Web sites
averaged 56 million users in the period, or 37 percent of all online users in
the period, the NAA said.
Gannett Co.'s USA Today remained the top-selling newspaper with 2,272,815
copies, up 0.09 percent from the same period a year ago; while The Wall Street
Journal, published by Dow Jones & Co., was second with 2,049,786, down 1
percent.
Several top newspapers reported significant declines in the period, including
Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times, down 5.4 percent at 851,832; The Washington
Post, down 3.7 percent at 724,242; the New York Daily News, also down 3.7
percent at 708,477. News Corp.'s New York Post slipped 0.7 percent to 673,379.
The largest slump at a major daily came at the San Francisco Chronicle, where
average paid weekday circulation fell 15.6 percent to 398,246 as the newspaper
continued to cut back on less desirable circulation such as copies paid for by
advertisers and then distributed for free.
Patricia Hoyt, a spokeswoman for the Chronicle, said the cutbacks began at the
beginning of last year and involved copies that "advertisers didn't value, were
quite costly and essentially had no impact on our readership."
The Chronicle, which is owned by Hearst Corp., reported a similar decline in
paid circulation for the previous six-month reporting period that ended last
September.
Several other large newspapers also reported declines, including The Boston
Globe, down 8.5 percent to 397,288, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, down
6.7 percent to 365,011. The Globe is owned by The New York Times Co. and the
Journal-Constitution by Cox Enterprises Inc.
Besides USA Today, a handful of other major newspapers reported modest
circulation gains in the period: The New York Times, up 0.5 percent at
1,142,464; Tribune Co.'s Chicago Tribune, up 0.9 percent at 579,079; and The
Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., up 0.9 percent at 398,329. The Star-Ledger is owned
by Advance Publications Inc.
