Daily circulation at many of the U.S.'s largest newspapers fell
during the six months ended in September, adding to the industry's
woes caused by weak advertising and competition from a swath of
digital technologies, according to the Audit Bureau of
Circulations.
Average weekday circulation for 635 U.S. dailies dropped 5%,
based on a cumulative average for the period ended Sept. 30, from a
year earlier. The decline follows year-to-year decreases of 8.7% in
the six months through March 31 and 11% through Sept. 30, 2009.
Sunday circulation for 553 Sunday papers was down 4.5% in the
latest period.
The figures were released Monday by a publishing industry group,
the Audit Bureau of Circulations, and reflect figures from many,
though not all, U.S. newspapers. Three of the country's 25 largest
papers posted declines of at least 10%.
Among the country's largest papers, the sharpest drops were at
the Newsday, owned by Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC), where
circulation fell 12%, and the San Francisco Chronicle, owned by
Hearst Corp. Its circulation declined 11%.
Newspaper circulation has been declining for decades, but the
pace has picked up in recent years, as more readers turn to a range
of digital media and as some publishers have drastically curtailed
the distribution of their papers or abandoned print partially or
altogether for the Internet.
ABC's next report is expected to reflect new rules that aim to
address circulation issues related to digital editions as well as
break out numbers for copies purchased by individuals as opposed to
those distributed to third-parties. The group said the rule
revisions represent more than two years of work by a task force of
newspaper publishers and advertisers.
The report showed The Wall Street Journal kept its position as
the country's largest newspaper by weekday circulation. The
newspaper's circulation, which includes online subscribers, rose
1.8% to 2.1 million copies from a year earlier. The Journal had
moved past Gannett Co.'s (GCI) flagship USA Today as the largest
U.S. newspaper last year.
The only other paper to see weekday circulation improve in the
period was the Dallas Morning News, owned by A.H. Belo Corp. (AHC),
where circulation edged up 0.3%.
USA Today's circulation was No. 2 as circulation declined 3.7%
to average 1.8 million in the latest period on-year. USA Today had
been the biggest paper in the U.S. for a decade. The slump in
business travel meant fewer copies of USA Today were sold to
hotels, one of the paper's historic strengths.
The New York Times ranked No. 3 in weekday circulation, down
5.5% at 876,638 copies. The Journal has been taking on the New York
Times on its home turf with a section devoted to New York
metropolitan news.
News Corp. (NWS) is the owner of this newswire, The Wall Street
Journal and the New York Post. The Post's weekday circulation
ranked seventh nationally, falling 1.3%.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481;
Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com;