Prudential Explores Drop in Other-Paid Circ This Spring

By: E&P Staff Last week, many publishers and analysts blamed the plunge in circulation, as reported on the latest FAS-FAX, on the scaling back of other-paid circulation. The category, which represents employee, hotel, Newspapers in Education, and third party sponsored papers, is considered less valuable by some advertisers. For the past year or so, a new study shows, newspapers indeed have been busy shucking copies from the category.

Prudential Equity Research did an analysis on some of the top 50 papers and found that publishers are making good on their word. Other-paid circulation was down 2.1% for the six-month period ending March 2006. Additionally, the research firm looked at how much each paper changed its reliance on the category. Almost half of the top 20 papers on this list reduced other-paid circ.

Following is Prudential's list of the top 20 daily papers ranked by size based on the March 2006 FAS-FAX. The percent change--first for total circ, then for other-paid-- compares the March 2006 report with the March 2005 FAS-FAX report.

USA Today
Total Circ, March '06: 2,272,815
% Change: +0.1%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 1,271,327
% Change: +7.7%

The Wall Street Journal
Total Circ, March '06: 2,049,786
% Change: -1.0%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 317,681
% Change: -25.0%

The New York Times
Total Circ, March '06: 1,142,464
% Change: +0.5%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 181,692
% Change: +12.0%

Los Angeles Times
Total Circ, March '06: 851,832
% Change: -5.4%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 73,745
% Change: -33.7%

The Washington Post
Total Circ, March '06: 724,242
% Change: -3.7%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 54,157
% Change: +5.3%

New York Daily News
Total Circ, March '06: 708,477
% Change: -3.7%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 92,507
% Change: +12.2%

New York Post
Total Circ, March '06: 673,379
% Change: -0.7%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 29,349
% Change: -35.7%

Chicago Tribune
Total Circ, March '06: 579,079
% Change: +0.9%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 30,717
% Change: -18.4%

Detroit News & Free Press
Total Circ, March '06: 560,795
% Change: -0.6%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 66,387
% Change: +6.0%

Houston Chronicle
Total Circ, March '06: 513,387
% Change: -3.6%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 75,720
% Change: -8.7%

The Arizona Republic, Phoenix
Total Circ, March '06: 438,722
% Change: -2.1%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 27,869
% Change: +8.4%

The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.
Total Circ, March '06: 398,329
% Change: +0.9%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 54,088
% Change: -5.8%

San Francisco Chronicle
Total Circ, March '06: 398,246
% Change: -15.6%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 41,447
% Change: -9.6%

The Boston Globe
Total Circ, March '06: 397,288
% Change: -8.5%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 26,621
% Change: -30.3%

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Total Circ, March '06: 365,011
% Change: -6.7%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 39,820
% Change: -0.7%

Star Tribune, Minneapolis
Total Circ, March '06: 362,964
% Change: -2.9%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 44,245
% Change: +6.7%

The Seattle Times-Post Intelligencer
Total Circ, March '06: 352,503
% Change: -6.8%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 43,076
% Change: +5.8%

The Philadelphia Inquirer
Total Circ, March '06: 350,457
% Change: -5.1%
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 23,806
% Change: +8.5%

The Plain Dealer, Cleveland
Total Circ, March '06: 343,163
% Change: -1.6%)
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 30,198
% Change: +14.9%

St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
Total Circ, March '06: 323,031
% Change: (4.3%)
Other-Paid Circ, March '06: 32,915
% Change: 29.8%