METRO DAILIES LIFT CIRCULATION

By: Tony Case Largest Newspapers Selling Well



(Mediaweek) In the face of
overall declining newspaper circulation, the biggest U.S. dailies
report sales are rising, according to the latest Audit Bureau of
Circulations (ABC) FAS-FAX report, released Monday.



In the six months ended March 31, the country's largest dailies -
including USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,
Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, Houston Chronicle, The
Dallas Morning News, and The Philadelphia Inquirer - all
sold more copies than they did a year earlier, according to the report,
based on publishers' estimates.



Metro papers continued a trend of boosting their circulations, even as
the industry at large has suffered declines.



National newspapers managed slight gains. USA Today lifted sales
1% to 1,757,699. The Wall Street Journal gained 1.1% to
1,812,590. The New York Times' weekday circulation grew 1.3% to
1,149,576 copies, while Sunday sales, at 1,691,287 copies, grew
slightly from a year earlier.



Papers in markets with more than one daily also enjoyed gains. In one
of the most-watched battles, characterized by massive and steep
discounting, both E.W. Scripps' Denver Rocky Mountain News and
MediaNews Group's Denver Post continued their robust weekday and
Sunday gains. The News, which last year overtook the long-

dominant Post in weekday sales, this time built weekday
circulation by a whopping 25.4% to 446,465 copies, as Sunday sales rose
19.7% to 552,085. The Post increased weekday sales 11.7% to
413,730 copies, as the market-leading Sunday edition lifted circulation
6.7% to 558,560.



In New York City, while the Times and News Corp.'s New York
Post were both up, Mort Zuckerman's Daily News struggled for
audience share. At the Post, weekday circulation rose less than
1% to 436,544 and Sunday gained 1.9% to 358,545. The Daily News
was flat weekdays at 730,542 copies and down 1.8% to 820,230 on Sunday.



Times Mirror's Los Angeles Times raised weekday circulation 5%
to 1,153,706, as Sunday sales gained less than 1% to 1,388,727. Freedom
Newspapers' Orange County Register and MediaNews Group's Los
Angeles Daily News both had flat sales.



In the Windy City, the Chicago Tribune's Monday-Tuesday numbers
fell 5% to 572,092, and Wednesday-Friday sales were flat at 674,603,
while Sunday sales dipped less than 1% to 1,026,407. Hollinger
International's Chicago Sun-Times gained 1% to 482,234 weekdays,
and lost 1.1%, to 402,644, on Sunday.



The New York Times Co.'s Boston Globe grew weekday circulation
1.7% to 477,074, while Sunday sales grew 1% to 722,729 copies. Pat
Purcell's Boston Herald gained 1.3% weekdays to 265,695, as the
Sunday edition increases a bit to 170,042.



In South Florida, Knight Ridder's Miami Herald, whose
circulation has skidded lately, did not report its numbers in time, and
its main competition, Tribune Co.'s Fort Lauderdale Sun-

Sentinel, posted a slight weekday gain and a slight Sunday loss.



In the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, the dominant St. Petersburg
Times' circulation tumbled 4.3% to 343,710 weekdays and 4.7% to
431,320 Sunday. Media General's Tampa Tribune - which changed
its reporting method during the period, making an accurate comparison
difficult, reported Monday-Thursday circulation of 226,311 and Friday-

Saturday sales of 261,486, compared to last spring's Monday-Saturday
circulation of 238,889. The Trib's Sunday sales dropped 2.8% to
323,007.