Digital helps NY metro newspaper circulation
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Powered by increases in their digital audience, the New York metropolitan area's five major newspapers reported circulation gains for the six months ended March 31, 2012, compared with a year earlier. Credit: iStock
Powered by increases in their digital audience, the metropolitan area's five major newspapers Tuesday reported circulation gains for the six months ended March 31 compared with a year earlier.
A semiannual report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, an industry monitor, showed continued decline in the number of print copies sold weekdays for all five papers. Sunday print sales were down at four of the papers, while The Wall Street Journal saw a modest rise for its weekend edition, which is delivered on Saturdays.
Nationwide, print circulation has been declining for 23 years, in part because readers are migrating to the Internet. Last year, the audit bureau started allowing papers to count some of the people using digital products on smartphones and e-readers as well as website visits not paid for directly by readers. (This number can only represent up to 30 percent of a paper's total circulation.)
Paid circulation, whether print or digital, has always been counted.
Officials Tuesday credited the accounting change for the year-over-year growth in digital audience. Increases at the five area papers ranged from 9 percent at The Wall Street Journal to a more than 10-fold jump at The New York Times.
"What this means is the dead-tree industry is continuing to die and the transfer to the Internet is going faster for some newspapers," said industry analyst John Morton. "Today's report shows people still want to read newspapers, they just may not want to get them thrown on their front porch."
Newsday reported its weekday sales averaged 397,973 copies in the six months ended in March, up 33 percent from a year ago. The paper's Sunday sales averaged 495,416, a gain of 37 percent.
Newsday started disclosing use of its digital products by the public recently; the other four papers started doing so earlier.
Newsday spokesman Paul Fleishman said, "We are now reporting digital audience, as it is an increasingly important measurement."
He added the paper's "print readership remains strong with two out of three Long Island adults reading the paper each week. We also continue to see our digital audience grow with hundreds of thousands of registered website users."
The Times' weekday sales averaged 1.6 million copies in the six months ended in March, up 73 percent from a year ago. Sunday circulation averaged 2 million, a 50-percent increase.
The Journal had weekday sales of 2 million copies, a gain of less than 1 percent. Sales of its weekend edition rose 4 percent to 2.1 million.
The Daily News' weekday sales were 579,636 copies, an increase of 9 percent. Sunday circulation was up 13 percent to 660,918.
The New York Post had weekday sales of 555,327 copies, a 6-percent increase. Sunday circulation was 434,392, up 22 percent.
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