Daily Circulation of U.S. Newspapers Fell 2.8 pct. to 43.7 million
For the six-month period ending September 30,
2006, the average daily circulation for all 770 newspapers reporting for
comparable periods decreased 2.8% to 43.7 million, over the same period a year
ago, according
to Newspaper Association of America. On Sunday, the average circulation for
the 619 newspapers reporting for comparable periods was 47.6 million, a
decrease of 3.4% over the same period a year ago.
The Wall Street Journal retained the No. 2 spot at 2.04 million, down 1.9%. The New York Times was at No.3 with 1.09 million, down 3.5%, and the Los Angeles Times at No.4 fell 8% to 775,766.
Some positive news in a declining industry:
- Dallas Morning News: The audience reach for Belo's Newspaper Group increased more than 10% from 2001 to 2006, including an almost 11% increase in audience reach at The Dallas Morning News.
- The New York Times: The New York Times nationally reaches 6.5 million readers on an average weekday. NYTimes.com, over 30 days, is used by 13.4 million visitors. With only 15% overlap, The New York Times brand reaches 17.3 million adults.
According to recent data from NAA and Nielsen//NetRatings, More than 58 million people (or more than 1 in 3 active Internet users) visited newspaper Web sites in September, generating more than 2.7 billion page views.
NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $59 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Most NAA members are daily newspapers, accounting for 87% of the U.S. daily circulation. Information about NAA and the industry may also be found at www.naa.org.
