Posted on 05/08/2006 8:49:15 AM PDT by churchillbuff
The Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX report released Monday morning reveals that circulation sank again this spring, with circ at major metros declining dramatically. Gains were slight.
Since March 2005, circulation has been declining at a more rapid pace. This spring, the numbers were expected to be better because of easier comparisons. Yet for the six-month period ending March 2006 compared to the same period a year ago, circulation at newspapers in major cities across the country continued to drop. Most notable so far: the San Francisco Chronicle, which experienced a dramatic 15% decline in daily copies, to 398,246.
Daily circulation at the Los Angeles Times dropped about 5.4% to 851,832. Sunday proved better for the paper, down 1.8%. The San Jose Mercury News, which McClatchy intends to buy, also showed decreases in daily circ, down 7.6% to 242,865.
The Washington Post reported that daily circulation slipped 3.6% to 724,242.
On the national front, USA Today reported slight gains -- despite a price increase last fall -- up .09% to 2,272,815. Daily circulation at The New York Times was up 0.5% to 1,142,464. The Wall Street Journal was down 1% to 2,049,768 for Monday through Friday.
As expected, daily circulation at The Boston Globe dropped 8.5% to 397,288. The paper experienced declines after releasing subscriber information in February.
The Sun in Baltimore also saw a significant decline. Daily circ sank 9.3% to 236,317 copies, while Sunday decreased 6.6% to 401,918.
The Philadelphia papers, which McClatchy put on the block after buying Knight Ridder, also showed declines. The Daily News was down 9.3% to 116,590 daily copies. Circuation at the Philadelphia Inquirer fell about 5% to 350,457. Sunday showed the same declines, down 5% to 705,965.
The Detroit Free Press reported an increase of 0.4% to 345,861, while the daily circ at the Detroit News dropped 1.5% to 214,934. Sunday was down 1.3% to 669,315.
Daily circulation at the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News declined -- both were down around 4.5%. Sunday declined about 4.1% to 704,806 copies.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer dropped 9% to 131,769 daily copies while the Seattle Times declined 5.3% to 220,734 daily copies. Sunday dropped 4.6% to 435,581.
Daily circulation at the Kansas City Star fell 5% to 261,776, while Sunday dropped 4% to 367,712. The Indianapolis Star slipped a bit, with daily circ down1.3% to 255,277. Sunday decreased 2.8% to 347,217.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch was down 1.7% to 277,842 daily copies. Sunday dropped 5% to 423,291. The Plain Dealer in Cleveland declined slighly, down 1.5% to 343,163 daily copies. Sunday dropped 2.7% to 450,875.
The Star Ledger in Newark, N.J. was one of the few major dailies to show gains. Daily was up 0.9% to 398,329 and Sunday was up 1.4% to 599,628.
In Florida, the Orlando Sentinel also dropped 8.2% to 229,368 daily copies. The Miami Herald was down 5.8% to 294,172.
Daily circulation at the Atlanta Journal Constitution decreased 6.7% to 365,011 and Sunday circ fell about 8% to 561,405. The Star Tribune in Minneapolis dropped 2.8% to 362,964 daily copies while Sunday dropped quite more, down 7.4% to 606,698.
The Chicago Tribune reported gains in both daily and Sunday up 0.9% and 0.3% respectively.
The gap is narrowing between rivals the New York Post, which reported daily circulation down 0.7% to 673,379. At the New York Daily News, daily circ dropped 3.6% to 708,477 copies.
Newsday reported circ numbers on this FAS-FAX, a first since it was mired in circulation problems that started in the summer of 2004. Daily circ was down at paper, 2.7% to 427,771. Sunday dropped 3.4% to 488,825.
Both the Chicago Sun-Times and The Dallas Morning News are not included on this report. The circ numbers are withheld pending the completion of a madatory six-month audit.
The Times-Picayune in New Orleans voluntarily suspended its service. Other Louisiana papers affected by hurricanes --The Advocate in Baton Rouge, the Courier in Houma, and the American Press in Lake Charles -- did not file by press time.
They're selling them at the McDonalds near my house, and sometimes I'll buy one.
Good - let these liberal rags sink.
Could be that people are less inclined to read than they once were. I wonder if literacy is declining or whether we are just happier with electronic media these days. Maybe a combination of the two things. I'm fairly sure that standards have been lowered at schools, but I also imagine that the studen population has increased.
"Thank you Lord for the blessing."
Daily circulation at The New York Times was up 0.5% to 1,142,464.
This saddens me to see more victims added to the liberal roster.
Watching the Boston Globe tank is one of my greater pleasures.
What they are doing is smoke and mirrors.
They get a large chunk of their business from hotels and motels. They sell them in bulk [at a cheaper rate] to the hotels for their guests.
Let me know who has revenue increasing.
Circulation probably includes all the free copies given away. It would be interesting to see numbers on paid subscriptions.
I find this hard to believe. They can't even tell the truth in their pages much less factcheck, so there's no reason I believe their surely phony and inflated ciruclation figures.
The NYT has been doing lots national advertising (I've seen many commercials here in Tucson, AZ). Perhaps that caused the 0.5% increase in circulation. Do the costs in advertising offset the gain in circulation? I doubt it...
Looks like Drudge's source. MSMWOES added.
I buy it because you don't know what the spin is going to be unless you follow the spinmeisters some of the time. For close to 40 years, I've never been able to figure out why consrvatives are neither as energetic nor effective as the left in getting out our side.
Kudos to the Globe for bolstering the case for McKinney as Democrat plantation poster girl.
Patrick Kennedy and Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinneys reaction to the obvious and blatant favoritism enjoyed by Patrick Kennedy is likely to be something to savor.
She is already on the record about the indignities she received at the hand of a white cop.
But now she sees that for the white boy, supervisors stepped in, relieving the officers at the scene and driving the staggering Kennedy home.
She faces potential legal jeopardy, and now a rich white boy walks away without so much as a breathalyzer test from circumstances that would ordinarily demand a drunk driving investigation.
I'm getting Slimes subscribtion offers again. I cancelled 4 years ago.
I think laptops are just a couple of generations away from replacing the giveaway newspapers in these areas. Unfortunately, it will be like the political parties. When the Republicans started winning, Rats changed to Republican, but didn't change their politics. All these newspaper Marxists will go online. The delivery method will change, but Molly Ivins wannabes will still be around.
"Watching the Boston Globe tank is one of my greater pleasures."
Thanks to the Globe, the DC Compost and NY Slimes, Ted Kennedy was able to remain as a $inator after the death of Mary Jo. He would have been removed as a $inator if the MSM hadn't spent millions and millions to save his sorry butt.
Without Kennedy as Kerry's mentor before and after Kerry served in Nam, the outcome of the war might have been different and many of the problems we face today.
The tanking of the Globus is celebrated by many of us.
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