ABC Top 25 (March '08)

[Mike Knobler]

The three worst drops were the Dallas Morning News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Boston Globe.

Didn't all three just go through massive newsroom cuts in the last year or two? And can you make the argument that the reduction in quality that comes with such cuts might have something to do with the plummeting circulation?

Throwing that out for debate.

Or were the massive newsroom cuts a response to the dwindling circulation?

I don't know the answer to that question, just throwing it out as another possibility. And I also recognize that JB's questions and mine are not mutually exclusive.

Sometimes big cuts are a result of scaling back of home delivery to outlying areas.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

The AJC's drop is partly due to eliminating distribution to a lot of outlying areas. I'd look for this to happen more and more as fuel prices boost delivery costs. Advertisers don't want to pay for circulation outside the paper's metro area.

As circulation numbers drop and online numbers rise, look for newspapers to downplay the ABC numbers and point toward growth in "readership" across "delivery platforms," or some such phrase. I know we touted that idea externally and internally. Fortunately, there is some truth to the notion that print readership is only one side of the equation. Unfortunately, print advertising remains key to supporting payrolls, and one online reader is not yet equal to one print reader in terms of value to advertisers.

 

[Joe Williams]

The Sunday numbers are more depressing. Not a single top 25 paper gained or maintained circulation. Every single one had a drop. The worst being Denver that lost more than 100,000 readers in six months, that could be explained by something else. I don't know the scene that well over there.
Only two papers are over a million, this time five years ago, six papers were over the one million mark for Sunday.

Newspaper Name -- As of 03/31/08 -- As of 03/31/07 -- % Change

THE NEW YORK TIMES: 1,476,400 -- 1,627,062 -- (-9.26%)
LOS ANGELES TIMES: 1,101,981 -- 1,173,095 -- (-6.06%)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: 898,703 -- 940,621 -- (-4.46%)
THE WASHINGTON POST: 890,163 -- 930,989 -- (-4.39%)
DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK: -- 704,157 -- 775,544 -- (-9.20%)

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: 632,797 -- 677,425 -- (-6.59%)
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: 630,665 -- 672,953 -- (-6.28%)
DETROIT FREE PRESS: 606,374 -- 639,531 -- (-5.18%)
DENVER POST/ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS: 600,026 -- 704,169 -- (-14.79%)
STAR TRIBUNE, MINNEAPOLIS: 534,063 -- 574,385 -- (-7.02%)

BOSTON GLOBE: 525,959 -- 562,273 -- (-6.46%)
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: 520,215 -- 563,079 -- (-7.61%)
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC: 515,523 -- 541,757 -- (-4.84%)
NEWARK STAR-LEDGER: 500,382 -- 570,523 -- (-12.29%)
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: 497,149 -- 523,687 -- (-5.07%)

NEWSDAY: 441,728 -- 464,169 -- (-4.83%)
ST. PETERSBURG (FLA.) TIMES: 432,779 -- 430,893 -- 0.44%
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER: 428,090 -- 442,482 -- (-3.25%)
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: 424,603 -- 438,006 -- (-3.06%)
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: 414,564 -- 407,754 -- 1.67%

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, TIMES: 409,231 -- 423,634 -- (-3.40%)
NEW YORK POST: 401,315 -- 439,202 -- (-8.63%)
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL: 384,539 -- 400,317 -- (-3.94%)
THE SUN, BALTIMORE: 372,970 -- 377,561 -- (-1.22%)
THE OREGONIAN: 361,988 -- 375,914 -- (-3.70%)

Now if we could subtract all those readers who buy the Sunday paper for the coupons and ads, we'd really be ready for the 15th floor ledge.

Drop on Sundays means those arguments (which I have bought and passed along in past) about the busy working person not having morning time for the paper doesn't apply so much. It's more that people do not bother with newspapers even when they have time. Or they filch the leftover sections at Starbucks on Sundays.

 

[JayFarrar]

People buy the paper for all sorts of reasons.
Just because they want the coupons isn't a reason to go jump out the window.
I would make a fairly solid argument that Sunday isn't the day of leisure it used to be for most people.
I think it is the busiest day for grocery shopping and when you factor in church going, that wipes out a big chunk of the day.

 

[fremont]

The three worst drops were the Dallas Morning News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Boston Globe.

Didn't all three just go through massive newsroom cuts in the last year or two? And can you make the argument that the reduction in quality that comes with such cuts might have something to do with the plummeting circulation?

Throwing that out for debate.

Well, fewer people producing less content gives less incentive for anyone to spend their money - which goes less and less far with each day - on a newspaper that's whittling itself down to a hull of what it once was.

It's especially sad that the Houston Chronicle, in one of the metros that's doing pretty well amidst the economic downturn, can't even post a gain. And it's the only daily in the nation's fourth-largest city. There is no good excuse at all for this.