US Papers Circulation Continues Nosediving; but Revenue Report Upbeat

The circulation recession among US newspapers continues unabated during the six months ending in September 2009, with some major publications taking devastating double-digit red numbers, especially The San Francisco Chronicle and the Miami Herald.

On the other hand, circulation revenues —boosted up by some drastic marketing decisions— provide an optimistic hue to yet another depressing report.

Trade publication Editor & Publisher reports that according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the average US newspaper took one of the worst hits in recorded history, with a 10.6-percent industry-wide decline.

The news proved to be particularly devastating for The San Francisco Chronicle, which lost more than a quarter (25.8 percent) of its daily circulation, and more than 22 percent of its Sunday circulation.

Another big loser was the Miami Herald, with a daily decline of 23 percent and a Sunday drop of 14.6 percent.

(EPA photo)

USA Today ceased to be the country's top circulation paper, taking an overall hit of 17 percent. Now the best national seller is the Wall Street Journal (above), which, remarkably, experienced a .6 percent circulation increase to slightly more than 2 million daily copies.

Details on the casualty report:

—The New York Times: -7.2 percent daily; -2.6 percent Sunday.
—The Los Angeles Times: -11 percent daily; -6.7 percent Sunday.
—The Washington Post: -6.4 percent daily; -5 percent Sunday.

E&P does explain the silver lining in this very dark storm cloud that has been hovering over the US newspaper industry for decades, especially over the last two years.

There are several reasons as to why circulation keeps dropping, aside from former readers who have kicked the print edition to the curb. Publishers have been purposely pulling back on certain types of circulation, including hotel, employee and third-party sponsored copies. No longer are they distributing newspapers to the outer reaches of the core market. The cost of delivery and the cost of materials have forced publishers to scale back.

Another shift has occurred: volume has taken a back seat to dollars.

Several major newspapers across the country have aggressively hiked prices of single-copy and home-delivered papers in search of circulation revenue and a renewed focus on loyal readers. Circulation is guaranteed to go down as prices go up, but publishers have opted to wring more revenue from readers as advertisers keep their coffers closed.

Several newspaper companies reported their circulation revenue is on the rise. In Q3, circulation revenue grew 6.7% at McClatchy, 11% at Media General, and 6.7% at The New York Times Co.

All the news that's fit to print does not seem enough for an industry that used to set the world standard.