SUNDAY READERSHIP DOWN

By: Joe Strupp Poor Service, Reader Time Constraints Among Culprits



On the decline since 1993, Sunday newspaper readership is lagging due to a mix
of factors ranging from poor delivery and circulation services to minimal
promotional efforts to reader time constraints, according to a study released
this week by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), Vienna, Va. Unveiled at
the NAA's annual convention in New York City, the survey also indicated that
many readers are not interested in the content of the Sunday paper and believe
it is poorly packaged and hard to navigate.



'You have to look at the product from the view of the reader and what will make
them want to read it every single Sunday,' said Anne Billups, vice president of
research for NAA. 'Content was the overwhelming factor. You have to give the
reader a reason to go out and buy it.'



Billups presented the study's findings with Greg Martire, managing partner of
Clark, Martire and Bartolomeo, Inc., the New Jersey-based firm that conducted
the study. Parade and USA Weekend jointly funded the survey, which
questioned 200 editors and publishers, as well as 1,200 readers in six newspaper
markets.



The survey noted that overall Sunday readership had dropped from its peak five
years ago, when an estimated 73% of adults in the U.S. read a Sunday newspaper
regularly. That dipped to about 62% in 1998, and again to about 60% last year.
Sunday circulation also declined from a high of 61 million in 1993 to
approximately 60 million in 1995 and about 59 million last year, according to
the survey.



Among readers questioned in the study, 68% said they read the Sunday paper about
as often today as they had one or two years ago, while 14% said they read it
more and 18% said they read it less or had stopped reading it. Half of those who
read it more also received home delivery, compared to 33% who read it less,
indicating home delivery was a major indicator of readership.


Overall, the study cited five factors for declining Sunday reader interest:


1. low interest and satisfaction in news content

2. limited time for reading

3. increased competition from other media

4. poor circulation and delivery service

5. little or no Sunday newspaper promotion or marketing



Among those who have low interest or satisfaction in the Sunday paper's content,
28% said they had read it less often or stopped all together, while only 7% of
those same people said they were reading it more often. Among the improvements
readers sought: more feature stories, local news, technology and
telecommunications, and youth coverage, as well as better indexing of the paper.



Twenty-three percent of all readers said they were very 'time pressured' on
Sunday, with 24% saying thy were reading the Sunday paper less because of such
pressures. 'Readers are saying the product is not worth their time,' Billups
said. 'But they say they can fit it in if it becomes worth their time.'



On the competition front, 38% of marginal Sunday readers said they get all the
news and information they need from other areas, with most citing radio and
television as the key news sources. Service also has contributed to the fall,
with 16% of marginal readers saying they stopped getting the Sunday paper
because of poor delivery, with one out of three citing missed delivery as the
main reason. Another 12% said they had trouble finding the paper at a local
newsstand or newsrack.



Sunday newspaper promotion also was considered lacking by readers, half of whom
said they were not aware of the latest Sunday marketing effort in their area.
About 46% said they had only come across a Sunday newspaper promotion once or
twice each month.



The survey concluded by offering few specific suggestions for Sunday readership
improvement, but reiterated the need for newspapers to take all of the factors
into account. 'There is no one cause,' Martire said. 'So there is no one
solution.'