Weekday circulation of US newspapers falls by 2.6 per cent

The average weekday circulation of newspapers in the United States (US) has fallen by 2.6 per cent in six months ending September, according to a report released on Monday. An analysis by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) has found that for the six-month period ending September 30, 2005, the average daily circulation for all 789 newspapers reporting for comparable periods was 45,153,192, a decrease of 2.6 per cent (from 46,347,669) over the same period a year ago.

On Sunday, the average circulation for the 627 newspapers reporting for comparable periods was 49,394,406, a decrease of 3.1 per cent (from 50,988,079) over the same period a year ago. The analysis is based on the latest Fas-Fax data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and from the Newspaper Audience database (NADbase).

The NAA analysis found that the total combined circulation of the top 50 newspapers represents only about one-third (35 per cent) of the total daily newspaper audience, and about 37 per cent of the total Sunday audience. NAA is a nonprofit organisation representing the $59 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the US and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as non-dailies and other publications published throughout the world.

Circulation of the three largest newspapers in the US was relatively stable, but many others showed significant declines. Gannett Co's USA Today, the largest-selling US daily, slipped 0.6 per cent from the same period a year ago to 2,296,335; the Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones & Co, fell 1.1 per cent to 2,083,660; and the New York Times Co's flagship paper rose 0.5 per cent to 1,126,190. The San Francisco Chronicle, published by Hearst Corp, reistered a 16.4 per cent decline in circulation as the newspaper slashed back on less profitable, heavily discounted and giveaway circulation subsidised by advertisers.

"When you look at newspaper readership and circulation, it's not one versus the other. Both are important, valid measures that advertisers look to for an accurate measure of newspapers' reach," NAA President and CEO John F Sturm said. "In this fragmented media market, true comparability between different media demands an increased focus on total audience, and by providing readership data with circulation data, newspapers are able to demonstrate their effectiveness relative to other media."

NADbase, released last month, is a source of detailed newspaper audience demographic data, reporting newspaper readership and website usage for 100-plus newspapers representing most major markets. The NADbase is part of the industry's ongoing effort to respond to advertisers' needs for measurement data that reflects newspapers' true reach and audience, and today's data serves as a complement to NAA's customary Fas-Fax report. A list of the top 50 papers, along with their corresponding circulation and readership figures is available here.

"Newspapers have been focusing their marketing efforts on growing readers in ways that deliver the most value to advertisers and make economic sense," Sturm said. "As we've seen in our 2005 'Circulation Facts, Figures, and Logic' report, publishers are continuing to develop strategies that reduce subscriber attrition, including better targeting of subscription sales efforts, and better follow-up after the sale. The publisher focus is also on total audience and this includes building readership of new audiences with launches of free local dailies, ethnic products, and online properties."

Data for NADbase is provided by Scarborough, a leading media/market research firm, measures 75 DMAs (including the top 50). Scarborough collects data via telephone interview and a mailed consumer survey booklet and seven-day TV diary.

Scarborough collected fieldwork for Release One from February 2004 through March 2005. In its Fas-Fax analysis, NAA uses the same methodology to analyse ABC's audited figures for each reporting period. Newspapers that do not report circulation in the current period are not included in the analysis and their circulation numbers are omitted from that period a year earlier.

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