The average weekday circulation at U.S. newspapers fell 2.6 percent in the six month-period ending this September. Here are the figures for the 20 biggest U.S. newspapers, as reported Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The percentage changes are from the comparable year-ago period.
- USA Today, 2,296,335, down 0.59 per cent
- The Wall Street Journal, 2,083,660, down 1.10 per cent
- The New York Times, 1,126,190, up 0.46 per cent
- Los Angeles Times, 843,432, down 3.79 per cent
- New York Daily News, 688,584, down 3.70 per cent
- The Washington Post, 678,779, down 4.09 per cent
- New York Post, 662,681, down 1.74 per cent
- Chicago Tribune, 586,122, down 2.47 per cent
- Houston Chronicle, 521,419, down 6.01 per cent
- The Boston Globe, 414,225, down 8.25 per cent
- The Arizona Republic, 411,043, down 0.54 per cent
- The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. , 400,092, up 0.01 per cent
- San Francisco Chronicle, 391,681, down 16.4 per cent
- Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 374,528, down 0.26 per cent
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 362,426, down 8.73 per cent
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, 357,679, down 3.16 per cent
- Detroit Free Press, 341,248, down 2.18 per cent
- The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 339,055, down 4.46 per cent
- The Oregonian, Portland, 333,515, down 1.24 per cent
- The San Diego Union-Tribune, 314,279, down 6.24 per cent.
Circulation has been steadily declining at newspapers for several years as readers look to other media such as cable TV and the Internet for news. Tougher rules on telemarketing have also hurt newspapers’ ability to sign up new readers.
Newspapers also face sluggish growth in advertising, higher newsprint prices and increasing concern among investors about their growth prospects. The second-largest newspaper publisher in the country, Knight Ridder Inc., is facing a revolt from two of its top shareholders, who want the company to be sold.
Last year U.S. advertising spending was an estimated $300 billion to $400 billion. Just $10 billion of that was spent online, even less than for ads in the Yellow Pages. By contrast, newspaper and direct telephone markets were worth five and nine times as much, respectively. Yet, according to Forrester Research Inc., households now spend at least 30% of their media time online, while the Internet has just 5% of total ad spending. That situation won’t last for long.
The World is Flat (mp3).
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