Positive Signs for US Newspapers

Total newspaper readership has declined slightly in the past 6 months, according to the latest figures from the NAA. However, papers in the top 50 US markets are reaching nearly eight out of 10 adults (78.6 percent) each week, web site audiences are up steeply and more than a third of papers have raised their circulation.

The spring 2004 Competitive Media Index (CMI) from the Newspaper Association of America shows that more than half of all adults in the top 50 markets are reading a newspaper every weekday, but the proportion is down - 53.4% in the spring 2004 CMI, compared to 54.1% in fall 2003. Sunday readership is down from 62.%% of adults to 62.0% in the same period.

NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm says the news is generally good - falls in these figures are 'in line with expectations' and newspapers 'remain a constant for advertisers, delivering a steady reader base they have come to value' despite economic fluctuations. Newspaper web sites are increasingly popular and their growing audience should also be taken into account, although the forthcoming election may be a bias, Sturm points out. According to an analysis of Nielsen/Net Ratings data by CSFB Media Research, the sites of newspapers reporting for both March 2003 and 2004 showed a 21% increase in unique audience over the last year.

In addition, according to Sturm, newspapers have worked hard over the last few years to put into practice recommendations from the Readership Institute. 'We are beginning to see progress well beyond what many expected... the industry has gone from understanding readership to doing something about it'.

He cites two examples. The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal grew daily adult readership by 41-46% and Sunday by 62-64% between 2001 and 2003 by a combination of retention efforts, geographic pricing and product enhancements; and the Jackson County (Fla.) Floridan has grown daily circulation more than 26% since 2002 by methods including a heavy focus on more local news and improvement of carrier routes.

A very substantial proportion of newspapers are bucking the slight downward trend in readership, appearing to support Sturm's claims about positive action. An NAA analysis of Fas-Fax data from the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the six-month period ending March 31, 2004, shows that 37 percent of the daily newspapers (310 of 836 newspapers reporting) gained circulation.

The average daily circulation for the 836 newspapers reporting for comparable periods was 50.83m, a drop of 0.1% from 50.89m over the same period a year ago. On Sunday, the average circulation for the 659 newspapers reporting for comparable periods was 55.08m, a more substantial fall of 0.9% from 55.58m.

The following are NAA's spring 2004 CMI top 10 newspaper markets for adult readership:

NAA is a non-profit organization representing the $55 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the US and Canada. Information about NAA and the industry may also be found at www.naa.org

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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