The head of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) said recent numbers showing newspaper declines from the Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX report, leave out important data and don't take into account the large core of loyal readers who support newspapers.
John F. Sturm, president and CEO of NAA, said the circulation data is derived from U.S. daily circulation newspapers that are ABC member papers with comparable data filed in time to be included in the ABC FAS-FAX report and doesn't reflect the total circulation of all newspapers in the U.S. newspapers in the U.S.
"The data reported in (Monday's) ABC FAS-FAX report is in line with expectations as newspaper publishers sharpen their focus on growing audience and driving revenue across a range of media channels," Sturm said in a statement. "Newspaper companies have dedicated their efforts to serving distinct audience segments through those platforms most relevant to the reader - including print, online and mobile. As a result, we expect some migration from newspapers in print to newspapers on digital platforms. The bottom line: Newspapers -in all their forms - continue to reach a substantial majority of adult consumers each week, a fact that carries more weight than just print units sold in today's digital environment.
The latest data from Scarborough Research puts our audience into perspective: More than 71 percent (165.6 million people) read a newspaper in print or online in the last seven days. In addition, a new analysis from comScore found that newspaper companies attracted 102.8 million unique visitors to their websites in September - reaching almost two-thirds (61 percent) of all adult Internet users.
What counts is that newspaper companies continue to retain their most loyal and engaged readers even as they increase print circulation pricing to rebalance their revenue streams. Many publishers have enhanced coverage to advertisers with popular print products that supplement traditional newspaper distribution. Targeted products - such as Briefing in Dallas, RedEye in Chicago, Your Essential Shopper in Phoenix and scores of local publications - provide additional readership that is not currently reported by ABC.
NAA looks forward to new ABC reporting formats that will debut next March. The changes will provide newspaper companies with the opportunity to report their broad portfolio of products across platforms, and will give advertisers the market data and transparency they need to make buying decisions in today's competitive environment."
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