By: Jennifer Saba Many newspapers will report circulation declines when the Audit Bureau of Circulations releases its FAS-FAX report on Monday for the six-month period ending March 2004. Several top newspaper executives told E&P, not for attribution, that overall they are predicting a disappointing decline in circulation. This includes several large metros, some with steeper drops than in the past by a couple of percentage points.
If papers report flat or slight increases in numbers, it will be considered a victory, they say.
But some industry-watchers are more upbeat. Paul Ginocchio, an analyst with Deutsche Bank, said that because newspapers have been focused on circulation for the past 18 months, he thinks they will start to yield some results. "I would be looking for the numbers to be relatively flat and trending better than it has in the past," he said.
Belo reported to ABC mixed numbers for its three largest papers, according to Scott Baradell, vice president of corporate communications. The Providence (R.I.) Journal and The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., both had small increases in daily and Sunday copies, but The Dallas Morning News declined for daily and Sunday circulation.
Across the state at the Hearst Corp.-owned Houston Chronicle, Bill Offill, vice president of circulation, packaging and distribution, said that his paper reported increases in daily and Sunday copies by 0.1%.
The joint operating agreement in Seattle continues to struggle. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported in an article in its business section that, "average daily circulation for The Seattle Times fell for the first time in two years." And the P-I's circ declined "even more than the Times." The joint Sunday edition also took a hit. Executives would not give figures, according to the article.
Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa, reported flat or slight increases across its 44 dailies, with more gains in Sunday than in daily copies, said Nancy Green, vice president of circulation.
The Sun of Baltimore reported a gain of about 500 Sunday copies, up 0.1%, said Mireille Grangenois, vice president of marketing and interactive media. Daily circ is flat.
The New York Daily News reported that daily circ grew by 1.4%, but Sunday decreased by 1%.
The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., reported circ up slightly on Sunday but down for daily, said Mike Burlingame, circulation director for the McClatchy Co.-owned paper.
The Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo., saw small increases in its daily circ and a decline in Sunday copies, according to Greg Anderson, publisher and president.
The E.W. Scripps Co.'s Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel reported a 0.5% increase in Sunday circ. Daily circ is up less than 1%, said Jim Boyd, circulation director.
Several newspapers and newspaper companies declined to comment about circulation figures until next week's official release.
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