By: Jennifer Saba 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 MediaNews Group 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 slowed its circ decline. Daily circ dropped 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. Circulation 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 slightly, 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 mandatory 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.
*Originally, the story stated the Sun's daily circ dropped 9.3%. Due to a reporting error with ABC, daily circ declined 3%.
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