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Newspaper Circulations: WSJ, NY Post show big gains, NYT flat, Wash. Post declines
Wall Street Journal | May 4, 2004 | nwrep

Posted on 05/29/2004 7:59:14 AM PDT by nwrep

The largest newspapers in the U.S. generally had modest circulation gains in the latest six months, but the figures overall were flat, according to figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

In the industry's semiannual circulation report, Gannett Co.'s USA Today remained the nation's top-selling newspaper and saw its average daily circulation for the six months ended March 31 rise 1.4% to 2,280,761. A spokesman said the paper benefited from a stronger economy, with more people traveling to both business and leisure destinations. Travelers are key readers for USA Today.

The Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones & Co., remained in the second spot. The newspaper had a 15% gain in circulation, with average daily circulation rising to 2,101,017, including some online subscribers allowed to be counted under ABC rules, compared with 1,820,600 in the year-earlier period, when online subscribers weren't allowed to be included.

Average weekday circulation for the print edition stayed "essentially flat," at 1,805,855, according to a spokeswoman. The Wall Street Journal Online counts 695,000 paying subscribers world-wide, the majority of which are subscribers only to the online edition of the paper. Of that number, the Journal was allowed to include 295,162 in its circulation statement based on ABC rules governing what price level of subscriptions can count as paid circulation.

News Corp.'s New York Post continued to see big gains. The Post registered a 9.34% jump in average weekday circulation to 678,012.

New York Times Co.'s flagship paper, the New York Times, lodged a 0.27% gain in average weekly circulation to 1,133,763. Circulation at the New York Daily News was up 1.36% to 747,053.

Overall, the industry posted generally anemic circulation results, according to a Newspaper Association of America analysis of the ABC numbers. Average daily circulation for the 836 reporting newspapers fell 0.1% to 50,827,454 for the six-month period, compared with the year-earlier period. Average Sunday circulation for the 659 newspapers reporting fell 0.9% to 55,075,444.

"Overall, this was not a terribly bad period," said NAA Chief Executive John F. Sturm. He said the industry was down, overall, "by just the slightest amount."

The steepest decline among the 10 largest papers came at Washington Post Co.'s Washington Post, where average daily circulation fell 2.99% to 772,553. A spokesman for the Washington Post couldn't be reached to comment.

At 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Gannett shares were off 53 cents at $86.15, Dow Jones was up $1.08 at $47.17, News Corp. American depositary receipts were up five cents at $36.61, New York Times shares were down 23 cents at $45.58, and Washington Post was up $10.50 at $930.50.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: liberalmedia; newscorp; newspaper; newspapers; nyt; readership; usatoday; wp; wsj
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1 posted on 05/29/2004 7:59:15 AM PDT by nwrep
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To: nwrep

Yawnnnnnnn...newspapers are so yesterday.


2 posted on 05/29/2004 8:23:06 AM PDT by Drango (A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.)
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To: nwrep


Just like CNN and MSNBC combined had approximately 1 million fewer viewers for GWB's recent speech.

FoxNews = 3.5 million approx.
CNN = 1.5 million approx.
MSNBC = 1 million approx.


Message: People are getting tired of having the liberal agenda crammed down their throats day after day.
3 posted on 05/29/2004 8:23:44 AM PDT by TomGuy (Clintonites have such good hind-sight because they had their heads up their hind-ends 8 years.)
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To: nwrep

Ha-ha. Of course, should there ever be a toilet paper shortage, there be a legitimate use for the Slimes and ComPost then and circulation should pick up.


4 posted on 05/29/2004 8:25:22 AM PDT by JeeperFreeper
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To: nwrep

From my own experience in the Chicago area, the daily highly liberal Chicago Tribune delivery is solely due to the fact that my wife insists on getting updated ads, especially for grocery pricing.
Trying to talk the wife out of this paper for which I'm paying in order to get advertising is, in my case, a futile exercise.
Maybe it's my fault, but peace at the home front is valuable.


5 posted on 05/29/2004 8:29:24 AM PDT by hermgem
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To: hermgem

We cancelled our hometown paper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 1999. The only reason we kept the subscription as long as we did was due to Atlanta Braves coverage. In the end Cynthia Tucker and crew getting my money for writing left wing drival was much more important to us than the Braves.

I've never regretted my decision. In fact I get to tell the employees of the AJC when they call me monthly to get my business back.


6 posted on 05/29/2004 8:37:46 AM PDT by Republican Red
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To: JeeperFreeper
Even as long ago as 10 years ago, in breakrooms in DC, when a reader brought it a Washington Times, he got a strange look from those reading the Washington Post.

When asked why they were reading the Wash Times, the usual response or implication was that they wanted the news that was left out of the other paper.

It became an interesting game to watch how news was reported about events of which the insiders knew the facts, were present at the press briefings, yet observed two entirely different stories printed in the two papers.

When you start to realize that your story was printed with a bias, then you slowly begin to realize that all stories are printed with a bias.

The short list of what I no longer read -

TIME,

Newsweek,

Washington Post,

SF Chronicle

Please add to the list

List of publications worth the while

WSJ,

Washington Times

Others anyone?

7 posted on 05/29/2004 8:39:30 AM PDT by Dustoff45 (Before you pray, you can do nothing; after you pray, you can do everything.)
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To: nwrep
The Wall Street Journal . . . had a 15% gain in circulation. . . . [The] New York Post registered a 9.34% jump in average weekday circulation.

Read it and weep, liberals. The WSJ and the Post didn't get these big gains because they are conservative. They got them because they are balanced, and because they actually print the news. They are conservative only in contrast to the rest of the media, which have moved so far to the left that they are a laughingstock to anyone with sense.

People may be willing to put up with a reasonable amount of bias, but not with outright lies, distortion, and suppression of the facts.

8 posted on 05/29/2004 8:51:58 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: nwrep

If I were a stockholder in the NYT or Washington Post I'd be furious. They are using their stockholder's money for political contributions.


9 posted on 05/29/2004 8:53:12 AM PDT by McGavin999 (If Kerry can't deal with the "Republican Attack Machine" how is he going to deal with Al Qaeda)
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To: nwrep

Well, people generally want truth, accuracy, and integrity in a newspaper. Some papers have those things, some ignore them.


10 posted on 05/29/2004 8:58:18 AM PDT by Enterprise
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To: Dustoff45
The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) has a consistently right-wing op-ed page and balanced coverage. Syndicated columnists are overwhelmingly conservative. The only two liberals are Ellen Goodman and Molly Ivins, whose logic is so fallacious and absurd they can't possibly have any effect. Letters to the editor are published from both sides.

All in all, a pretty darn good paper. They still use AP stories, though. Can't have everything...

11 posted on 05/29/2004 8:59:05 AM PDT by K1avg (What would Savage do?)
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To: nwrep

Good news bump.


12 posted on 05/29/2004 8:59:42 AM PDT by PGalt
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To: nwrep
Good news! Any idea where one can see the full data?

(I'd like to see the numbers for LA Times, Wash Times, NY Sun)

13 posted on 05/29/2004 9:10:21 AM PDT by mvonfr
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To: Enterprise
If I were a stockholder in these papers, I would sell, because I would be riding a nearly dead horse. I would look for a paper that is growing, and returning a PROFIT!
14 posted on 05/29/2004 9:10:25 AM PDT by Enterprise
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To: Drango

Where do you get a newspaper, anyway?


15 posted on 05/29/2004 9:12:24 AM PDT by Principled
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To: nwrep
Overall, the industry posted generally anemic circulation results, ...

"Overall, this was not a terribly bad period,"

Give me a break, in wartime you can't increase circulation and you call that 'not a terribly bad period'?????

16 posted on 05/29/2004 9:18:04 AM PDT by gilliam
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To: hermgem

We keep our local, The Virginian-Pilot simply because I need litter paper, sports and ads.

I have given up reading the darn thing. You'd think that in a conservative area, they would at least acknowledge that fact. They have run the most insulting, base and demeaning "comics" about President Bush and have never given the man an inch.

I've complained, but it doesn't help.


17 posted on 05/29/2004 9:20:06 AM PDT by OpusatFR (Vote Kerry if you want to commit national suicide)
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To: nwrep
The steepest decline among the 10 largest papers came at Washington Post Co.'s Washington Post, where average daily circulation fell 2.99% to 772,553. A spokesman for the Washington Post couldn't be reached to comment.

Every Conservative inside the Beltway - not affectionately - calls it "The Washington Compost"

18 posted on 05/29/2004 9:22:11 AM PDT by TrueBeliever9 (Life is uncertain. Ride your best horse first. Unknown)
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To: Exit148
"The Gospel According to the New York Times: How the World's Most Powerful News Organization Shapes Your Mind and Values by William Proctor

"Journalistic Fraud" by Bob Kohn.

19 posted on 05/29/2004 9:24:52 AM PDT by TrueBeliever9 (Life is uncertain. Ride your best horse first. Unknown)
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To: mvonfr
Formats:   CitationCitation  HTML Full TextHTML Full Text  

Title: Newspaper-industry slide worsens ,  By: Fine, Jon, Advertising Age, 00018899, 5/10/2004, Vol. 75, Issue 19
Database: Business Source Elite
Section: Data Center

Audit Bureau of Circulations

Newspaper-industry slide worsens



But 'USA Today,' 'WSJ' and 'New York Post' buck trend with large six-month gains

THERE'S GOOD NEWS at the top of the chart for newspapers, as the two largest newspapers saw circulation spike significantly and four of the top five notched gains.

For the industry at large, though, it was another version of the same movie that's long been playing out amid the landscape of local newspapers. Circulation continues to erode. Of the top 50 newspapers as ranked by daily circulation, 26 posted declines. An analysis of the most recent circulation data-which is tabulated by Audit Bureau of Circulations-conducted by the Newspaper Association of America found only 37% of the 836 papers audited posted circulation gains. The average newspaper, according to the NAA, posted a 0.1% daily circulation loss.

BAD NEWS ON SUNDAY

For Sunday newspapers-the bulked-up formats of which account for a disproportionate share of revenues at major dailies-the NAA found that the news was worse. Average Sunday circulation was off 0.9%.

These figures represent a worse performance than for the previous six-month period, which ended Sept. 30. In those six months, the NAA found the average daily posted a 0.2% circulation increase and a 0.4% decline on Sunday.

The biggest gainer of the top 50, Dow Jones & Co.'s Wall Street Journal, saw a massive 15.4% increase, owing overwhelmingly to the fact it's now allowed to count online subscribers in its tallies. The other big gainer, News Corp.'s The New York Post, rose 9.3%, thank to aggressive pricing strategies, strong sports and business pages, and the sort of jugular-seeking subtlety one expects from properties owned by Rupert Murdoch.

But its tabloid rival, the Daily News, notched a 1.4% increase in its circulation. In doing so it avoided allowing the surging Post to erase its lead in raw numbers despite a string of serious gains. The New York Times showed a slight gain of 0.3% for daily, and 0.2% for Sunday.

The ABC's data also testifies to the industry's reliance on a circulation category called "other paid," which are copies bought in bulk by businesses such as hotels and airlines for at least 25% of basic subscription price.

The biggest major player in "other paid" remains Gannett's USA Today, which derives 47.5% of its weekday circulation from this source. But a host of other top 50 newspapers lean heavily on "other paid" circulation. Among them: Knight Ridder's Miami Herald (20.3%); The Wall Street Journal (16%); Tribune Co.'s South Florida Sun-Sentinel (17.9%) and Los Angeles Times (12.0%); Cox Newspapers' Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12%); and MediaNews Group's flagship Denver Post (13.3%).

TOP 50 NEWSPAPERS BY CIRCULATION

Ranked by weekday averages for six-months ended March 31, 2004

Legend for chart:
A = Rank
B = Newspaper
C = Average daily circulation 2004
D = Average daily circulation 2003
E = Average daily circulation % chg
F = Average Sunday circulation 2004
G = Average Sunday circulation 2003
H = Average Sunday circulation % chg

A B
C D E F G H

1 USA Today(*)
2,192,098 2,143,582 2.3 2,635,412 2,584,331 2.0

2 Wall Street Journal
2,101,017 1,820,600 15.4 NA NA NA

3 The New York Times
1,133,763 1,130,740 0.3 1,677,003 1,672,965 0.2

4 Los Angeles Times(a)
983,727 979,549 0.4 1,392,672 1,396,044 -0.2

5 Washington Post
772,553 796,367 -3.0 1,025,579 1,049,322 -2.3

6 New York Daily News
747,053 737,030 1.4 802,103 810,533 -1.0

7 New York Post
678,012 620,080 9.3 445,094 420,179 5.9

8 Chicago Tribune(b)
614,548 621,055 -1.0 1,002,398 1,016,471 -1.4

9 Newsday
580,346 579,351 0.2 662,317 665,324 -0.5

10 Houston Chronicle(a)
549,300 548,508 0.1 740,002 739,389 0.1

11 Dallas Morning News(b)
529,879 532,051 -0.4 755,912 786,593 -3.9

12 San Francisco Chronicle
501,135 514,265 -2.6 553,983 553,703 0.1

13 Chicago Sun-Times
486,936 488,487 -0.3 378,371 382,234 -1.0

14 Arizona Republic(a)
466,926 486,131 -4.0 587,159 596,993 -1.6

15 Boston Globe
452,109 448,775 0.7 686,575 680,083 1.0

16 Newark Star-Ledger
407,945 407,730 0.1 610,542 609,514 0.2

17 Atlanta Journal-Constitution(b)
401,077 419,568 -4.4 629,505 658,581 -4.4

18 Philadelphia Inquirer
387,692 386,890 0.2 769,257 768,236 0.1

19 Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune(a)
377,058 375,506 0.4 671,275 669,362 0.3

20 Cleveland Plain Dealer(a)
367,528 373,137 -1.5 480,540 482,380 -0.4

21 San Diego Union-Tribune (a, b)
355,771 363,555 -2.1 444,527 444,899 -0.1

22 Detroit Free Press(c)
354,581 363,423 -2.4 705,148 718,967 -1.9

23 St. Petersburg Times(a)
348,502 354,869 -1.8 442,605 442,348 0.1

24 Portland Oregonian
342,040 344,552 -0.7 412,113 422,131 -2.4

25 Miami Herald(a)
325,032 328,126 -0.9 447,326 444,119 0.7

26 Orange County Register(a)
310,001 307,205 0.9 374,364 370,739 1.0

27 Sacramento Bee(a)
303,841 302,804 0.3 356,154 349,989 1.8

28 Denver Post(d)
286,197 301,107 -5.0 783,274 790,508 -0.9

29 Rocky Mountain News(d)
286,004 301,004 -5.0 783,274 790,508 -0.9

30 St. Louis Post-Dispatch(a)
281,198 286,491 -1.8 454,998 467,374 -2.6

31 San Jose Mercury News(a)
279,539 276,786 1.0 308,425 306,580 0.6

32 Baltimore Sun(b)
277,947 281,664 -1.3 470,453 470,014 0.1

33 Kansas City Star(a)
275,747 273,722 0.7 388,425 385,109 0.9

34 Orlando Sentinel(a)
269,269 266,774 0.9 385,097 391,145 -1.5

35 South Florida Sun-Sentinel (a, b)
268,297 265,752 1.0 376,551 375,444 0.3

36 New Orleans Times-Picayune(a)
262,008 260,721 0.5 286,802 287,001 -0.1

37 Columbus Dispatch(a)
259,127 261,568 -0.9 371,551 373,696 -0.6

38 Indianapolis Star(a)
253,778 255,286 -0.6 367,995 367,142 0.2

39 Boston Herald
248,988 247,886 0.4 152,624 156,234 -2.3

40 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
245,065 248,176 -1.3 406,754 409,218 -0.6

41 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
244,893 257,600 -4.9 430,755 434,667 -0.9

42 San Antonio Express-News(b)
244,547 247,214 -1.1 359,828 365,309 -1.5

43 Tampa Tribune(a)
238,877 238,176 0.3 315,811 313,693 0.7

44 Seattle Times(e)
237,303 239,468 -0.9 465,830 474,748 -1.9

45 Fort Worth Star-Telegram(b)
233,908 236,369 -1.0 332,861 336,883 -1.2

46 Charlotte Observer(a)
231,369 242,082 -4.4 282,215 296,771 -4.9

47 Detroit News(c)
225,174 233,151 -3.4 705,148 718,967 -1.9

48 Daily Oklahoman(a)
223,403 222,354 0.5 297,029 299,724 -0.9

49 Louisville Courier-Journal(a)
216,934 223,062 -2.7 279,611 285,286 -2.0

50 Investor's Business Daily(b)
215,735 242,661 -11.1 NA NA NA

Notes: Percent change computed against six month averages for the period ending March 31, 2003. * USA Today's Friday circulation is listed in the Sunday column. Its weekday circulation average is Monday through Thursday only. a) Weekday averages include Saturday. b) Figures were adjusted by Ad Ageto estimate average weekday circulation for both years. c) Detroit Free Press and Detroit News have combined Sunday edition; d) Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post have combined Sunday edition. e) Combined Sunday edition with Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

~~~~~~~~

By Jon Fine


Copyright of Advertising Age is the property of Crain Communications Inc. (MI) and its content may not be copied or e-mailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder`s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or e-mail articles for individual use.
Source: Advertising Age, 5/10/2004, Vol. 75 Issue 19, p59, 1p
Item: 13088721
 
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20 posted on 05/29/2004 9:32:18 AM PDT by nwrep
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