By: E&P Staff Like its partner, the Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News' daily circulation woes mounted today, with the numbers plunging 11.9% in the latest FAS-FAX, one of the worst performances in the country. The Sunday edition sank right along witht it, at 11.2%.
How to explain it? In an article for the paper's Web site today, David Milstead first observes, "The Denver figures reflect a decision by the Denver Newspaper Agency to dramatically cut back on what are called 'third-party sales.' These copies are paid for by advertisers and dropped on the steps of non-subscribers."
Then, he adds, in what will become a familiar explanation in the days ahead at other papers: "The circulation figures show the continuing shift of readers away from the paid print product to newspaper Web sites. To reflect that, the audit bureau has introduced a new audited 'audience' figure compiled by Scarborough Research.
"The Denver papers report a local 'total net audience' of 1,677,231 in the local television market and an audience of 1,363,093 in the area it designates as where it sells its ads. The numbers count readers who read both the print and Web site as one person....
"The Denver Newspaper Agency plans a statement on the circulation figures later today. Over the weekend, it ran ads in the two newspapers that described the audience as '26 Coors Fields filled to capacity.'"
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