Circulation still falling at papers
Some drops called intentional
US newspapers, already squeezed by falling advertising revenues, suffered steep circulation declines in the six-month period ended in March, with both The Boston Globe and Boston Herald taking large hits, according to a report released yesterday.
The Globe's paid daily circulation fell 13.7 percent, to 302,638 copies, while that of the Boston Sunday Globe dropped 11.3 percent, to 466,665, compared to the same period last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations figures.
The Herald's daily circulation fell at an even greater rate, down 17.4 percent to 150,688 copies; paid subscriptions of its Sunday paper fell at slower rate, down 9.6 percent to 95,392.
Local newspapers owned by GateHouse Media Inc., such as the Enterprise of Brockton and The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, took smaller hits, with the daily Patriot Ledger down 6.2 percent and the Enterprise down 5.5 percent, the report noted.
Nationwide, daily circulation of 395 newspapers in the survey fell an average of 7.1 percent from the same six-month period a year earlier, according to the bureau. That's nearly double the rate of decline from the March 2008 period, when daily circulation fell 3.6 percent. And while there were some bright spots - The Wall Street Journal posted a slight increase - most metropolitan dailies experienced significant double-digit declines.
"The trend is negative," said Ed Atorino, managing director of New York-based Benchmark Co. and a media analyst. "It's not going to get any better, and it's only probably going to get worse. Internal declines are only going to get worse as the Internet continues to siphon off young readers."
Among the country's largest papers, daily circulation at USA Today fell 7.5 percent. At The New York Times, daily circulation fell 3.6 percent and Sunday dropped 1.7 percent. The Los Angeles Times fell 6.6 percent daily, and 7.5 percent Sunday.
Many regional newspapers fared even worse: the Atlanta Journal Constitution was down 19.9 percent daily and 7.1 percent Sunday; the Philadelphia Inquirer was down 13.8 percent daily, 12 percent Sunday; and the San Francisco Chronicle was down 15.7 percent daily, 16.5 percent Sunday.
The Wall Street Journal's numbers went up in part because of increases in paid subscriptions to its online version, which are counted toward the newspaper's overall circulation.
Atorino and other analysts cautioned that the latest circulation declines, while jarring, are also a bit misleading. Many newspapers in recent months have intentionally cut circulation, eliminating delivery in far-flung areas where the cost of getting the paper there was greater than the revenues generated.
"If newspapers can reduce their weaker, less profitable circulation, it can give advertisers a better idea of who they're reaching," said Tom Corbett, an equity analyst who tracks media for Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. "It's a smaller audience reached, but you can argue that it's a better audience reached. And it also helps a newspaper reduce costs."
Robert Powers, a Globe spokesman, said in a statement yesterday that the newspaper's recent circulation losses "were the result of price increases and scaled back subscription discounts."
Last year, the Globe raised its newsstand price to 75 cents, from 50 cents, and the company has announced another increase that's effective next week. In the city zone, the newspaper will cost $1; it will go to $1.50 outside Greater Boston. The newsstand price of the Sunday Globe will rise to $3.50 in Greater Boston and to $4 outside the region. The Globe is expecting to gain $20 million from the price increases, including a soon-to-be-announced increase in home delivery rates.
Herald publisher Patrick Purcell did not return a call seeking comment. The Herald raised newsstand prices to 75 cents last year.
The circulation declines do not mean fewer people are reading the news. Newspapers report healthy surges in readership at their online sites. But many don't charge for online content, and newspapers have not figured out how to generate enough money from their websites to compensate for what they're losing in print revenue.
Newspaper websites averaged more than 73 million unique visitors a month in the first quarter of this year, according to Nielsen Online research conducted for the Newspaper Association of America. That's up nearly 75 percent from five years ago, when Nielsen recorded an average of 41.8 million monthly unique visitors in the first quarter of 2004.
The Globe's online site, boston.com, had 5.7 million unique visitors in March, 36 percent more than in the same month last year, according to Nielsen.
Readership of NYTimes.com increased 7 percent, to 20.1 million unique visitors, compared to March 2008.
"While circulation may be in decline, the unique visitors, unduplicated visitors to websites, is going up," said Tom Fiedler, dean of Boston University's College of Communication. "So the overall readership of the journalism being produced by newsrooms could be as healthy, if not healthier, than ever."
Keith O'Brien can be reached at kobrien@globe.com. 