By: Mark Fitzgerald At the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, there is one newspaper-wide goal so imposing they call it B-HAG ? short for Big Hairy Audacious Goal.
The mission: Reach an average circulation of 400,000 for six days and 700,000 on Sundays.
In the latest FAS-FAX report from the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the Star Tribune made significant progress towards its goal, but increasing circulation appears to loom as an ever more difficult B-HAG for whole categories of newspapers.
The results are something like a Rorschach test for industry optimists and pessimists. On the one hand, an analysis by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) shows that 60% of newspapers with circulations over 500,000 gained sales during the period. On the other, the industry overall was down 0.5% compared to last year, and Sunday circulations ? once the reliable drivers of circulation and household penetration were down a full 1%.
There were notable gainers and losers. USA TODAY was up 1.4% to 1,739,294 in paid circulation during Monday through Thursday. Its Friday edition, which stays on the stands three days, is now the only mainstream newspaper in the United States that sells more than 2 million copies. The Friday USA TODAY was up 1.1% to 2,133,467 ? a figure that does not count bulk sales of more than 470,000.
The biggest percentage winner was the Denver Rocky Mountain News, where daily circulation surged 10.4% to 359,068. The rival Denver Post, which has mocked the News' "Front Range" strategy of concentrating circulation on Denver and its immediate environs, was also up a healthy 4.6% to 370,423.
The Star Tribune was the third-largest gainer among big-city dailies, up 3.6% to 400,027 ? short of achieving its B-HAG because it measures circulation Thursdays through Saturdays. Nevertheless, the "energy released" by the goal was the biggest factor in the increase, says Paul Reese, senior vice president/operations and circulation.
"We had been kind of in a no-growth mode for the last five years and hearing that goal enunciated brought out all kinds of ideas," Reese says.
At the Los Angeles Times, which has also made a very public goal of circulation growth, gains were just 0.3% daily, but they did mark the sixth consecutive FAS-FAX reporting period with an increase.
"We're building a foundation of high-retention subscribers through a combination of enhanced editorial content and products, innovative sales programs, creative marketing, and partnerships with complementary newspapers," says Mark Willes, Times publisher and Times Mirror chairman. "These changes give us a solid foundation for the dramatic long-term growth that we are committed to."
The biggest circulation dip was reported by Knight Ridder's Philadelphia Inquirer, where daily sales were down an average 7.2%, or 31,521 copies, to 401,968. Its tabloid sister, The Philadelphia Daily News, slumped even farther, off 11% to 158,583.
With the exception of the Denver newspapers ? both of which gained about 6% ? Sunday circulation was either down or up only slightly among the 25 biggest papers. In the biggest and small circulation categories, according to the NAA analysis, about 65% of papers showed losses. Overall, fewer than a third of Sunday papers managed to increase circulation, the analysis shows.
?(Editor & Publisher Web Site:http:www.mediainfo.com) [Caption]
?(copyright: Editor & Publisher May 8, 1999) [Caption & Chart]
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