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Wall Street Journal

US newspapers show increases as digital use 'matures' :NY Times stars

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

October 31, 2012 | 3 min read

Have American newspapers finally turned the corner? The U.S. Audit Bureau of Circulations has issued its twice-annual newspaper circulation report, and it shows that overall circulation held steady as papers expanded their digital distribution .

NYT: Digital circulation doubles

Unlike the UK, the ABC in America marries the two circulation figures.

Highlight was the figure for The New York Times, whose incoming president is Mark Thompson, ex-DG of of the BBC. Total circulation of the NYT grew more than 40 percent to 1.6 million.

Its digital circulation more than doubled in the past year to 896,352, as it aggressively push its year-old paywall . The Times’ online daily circulation now tops its print circulation, which comes in at 717,513. The Times’ Sunday circulation zoomed 27.7 percent to 2.1 million.

Rival The Wall Street Journal, No 1 in the US and with a long-established paid site, saw its total circulation climb 9.4 percent to 2.3 million . Its digital circulation surged to 794,594 from 537,469 a year ago.

The Newark Star Ledge posted an astonishing 48% combined print-digital circulation increase over a year ago: print was 184,474, digital 127,430 for a total of 311,904.

An insider tells me the secret here was a very successful FREE app which allowed readers to access the paper on their tablet or laptop.

Neal Lulofs, Executive Vice President and General Manager, of ABC told the Drum, "We are beginning to see maturation of digital publishing techniques, particularly with regard to apps for tablets."

Overall, the Audit Bureau report showed daily circulation decreased 0.2 percent while total Sunday circulation increased 0.6 percent. Digital circulation now accounts for 15.3 percent of total circulation, up from 9.8 percent a year ago.

Looking at the top U.S. dailies by circulation, 16 of the top 25 posted increases in the past year. Other big gainers were the Los Angeles Times (11.9 percent), Denver Post (16.9 percent), and St. Petersburg Times (30.4 percent).

The Wall Street Journal remained No. 1 with 2.3 million print and digital circulation, followed by USA Today (1.7 million) and the Times (1.6 million). On a print-only basis, USA was the biggest, followed by the Journal and the NY Times.

The report covers the six months that ended Sept. 30. Figures are based on reporting by 613 daily newspapers and 528 papers with Sunday editions.

Industry realists however recognize that the big increase in digital uptake is not matched by a corresponding increase in revenue. So paper-and-ink newspapers still have a mountain to climb in that regard.

On average, digital circulation now accounts for 15.3 percent of newspapers’ total circulation mix, up from 9.8 percent in September 2011.

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