Down 4.99 percent on weekdays, according to the ABC
Oct 25, 2010
The steep declines in newspaper circulation seen over the past few years seem to be slowing, right along with the lessening declines in dollars advertisers are spending on newspapers.
For the six months ended in September, Monday through Friday daily newspaper circulation fell 4.99 percent compared to the year-earlier period for 635 papers, according to numbers released this morning by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
That's far less than the 8.74 percent decline seen during the previous six-month period, and less than half the 10.62 percent rate reported at this time last year.
Sunday papers' rate of decline also slowed, to 4.46 percent for the 553 papers measured, compared to 6.54 percent during the previous reporting period and 7.49 percent for the year-earlier period.
The numbers probably simply mean that we're getting close to a bottoming out of the circulation declines that have been going on for years; analysts don't expect to see gains anytime soon, and many papers are now seeing their print numbers supplement by online subscriptions.
But while the declines are beginning to even out, it's clear that most of the nation's top papers are still feeling the hurt. Only one top-10 weekday paper, the No. 1 Wall Street Journal, saw a year-to-year rise in circulation, and that's likely in part due to digital subscriptions.
Meanwhile, several big papers are still seeing double-digit year-to-year declines, including the Houston Chronicle and Newsday, off 10.53 percent and 11.84 percent on weekdays.
And only one top-10 paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, saw a year-to-year increase in Sunday circulation, up 5.66 percent.
The Greenwich (Conn.) Time was the top gainer overall, including print and online circulation, up 19.74 percent to just over 115,000.
Newspaper ad spending, too, has been seeing more moderate declines over the past six months, though it will be a long time before it's back in the black. The latest forecast from Magna Global puts newspaper media spending this year down 7.8 percent, compared to 28.6 percent last year.
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Top 25 Daily Newspapers – Mon.-Fri.
As of Sept. 30, 2010
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|
Newspaper |
2010 Circ (Daily) |
2009 Circ (Daily) |
% change |
|
WALL STREET JOURNAL |
2,061,142 |
2,024,269 |
1.82% |
|
USA TODAY |
1,830,594 |
1,900,116 |
-3.66% |
|
NEW YORK TIMES |
876,638 |
927,851 |
-5.52% |
|
LOS ANGELES TIMES |
600,449 |
657,467 |
-8.67% |
|
WASHINGTON POST |
545,345 |
582,844 |
-6.43% |
|
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
512,520 |
544,167 |
-5.82% |
|
NEW YORK POST |
501,501 |
508,042 |
-1.29% |
|
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS |
477,592 |
- |
N/A |
|
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
441,508 |
465,892 |
-5.23% |
|
HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
343,952 |
384,437 |
-10.53% |
|
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER |
342,361 |
361,481 |
-5.29% |
|
NEWSDAY |
314,848 |
357,124 |
-11.84% |
|
DENVER POST |
309,863 |
340,949 |
-9.12% |
|
ARIZONA REPUBLIC |
308,973 |
316,873 |
-2.49% |
|
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE |
297,478 |
304,544 |
-2.32% |
|
DALLAS MORNING NEWS |
264,459 |
263,810 |
0.25% |
|
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER |
252,608 |
271,182 |
-6.85% |
|
SEATTLE TIMES |
251,697 |
263,588 |
-4.51% |
|
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES |
250,747 |
275,641 |
-9.03% |
|
DETROIT FREE PRESS (e) |
245,326 |
269,729 |
-9.05% |
|
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES |
239,684 |
240,146 |
-0.19% |
|
OREGONIAN |
239,071 |
249,164 |
-4.05% |
|
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE |
224,761 |
242,693 |
-7.39% |
|
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE |
223,549 |
251,782 |
-11.21% |
|
NEWARK STAR-LEDGER |
223,037 |
246,006 |
-9.34% |
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Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations |
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Top 25 Daily Newspapers – Sunday
As of Sept. 30, 2010
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|
Newspaper |
2010 Circ (Sunday) |
2009 Circ (Sunday) |
% change |
|
NEW YORK TIMES |
1,352,358 |
1,400,302 |
-3.42% |
|
LOS ANGELES TIMES |
901,119 |
983,702 |
-8.40% |
|
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
768,073 |
803,220 |
-4.38% |
|
WASHINGTON POST |
764,666 |
822,207 |
-7.00% |
|
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
568,266 |
603,671 |
-5.86% |
|
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS |
528,536 |
- |
N/A |
|
HOUSTON CHRONICLE (T) |
515,236 |
547,409 |
-5.88% |
|
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE |
504,616 |
477,564 |
5.66% |
|
DETROIT FREE PRESS (T) (e) |
494,013 |
560,188 |
-11.81% |
|
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER |
477,586 |
499,138 |
-4.32% |
|
DENVER POST |
472,664 |
495,485 |
-4.61% |
|
ARIZONA REPUBLIC |
457,059 |
458,992 |
-0.42% |
|
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION |
384,110 |
405,551 |
-5.29% |
|
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES |
377,235 |
370,049 |
1.94% |
|
NEWSDAY |
375,874 |
413,830 |
-9.17% |
|
DALLAS MORNING NEWS (T) |
373,815 |
390,523 |
-4.28% |
|
BOSTON GLOBE |
368,303 |
418,527 |
-12.00% |
|
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH |
365,589 |
401,425 |
-8.93% |
|
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER (T) |
348,324 |
390,637 |
-10.83% |
|
NEWARK STAR-LEDGER |
346,436 |
371,061 |
-6.64% |
|
SEATTLE TIMES |
341,265 |
359,672 |
-5.12% |
|
NEW YORK POST |
339,115 |
343,361 |
-1.24% |
|
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL |
331,171 |
334,241 |
-0.92% |
|
BALTIMORE SUN |
324,018 |
322,492 |
0.47% |
|
OREGONIAN |
292,800 |
303,414 |
-3.50% |
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Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations |
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Bill Cromwell is a staff writer for Media Life.
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© 2010 Media Life Magazine |