The Chicago Tribune’s total paid weekday circulation average declined 2.1 percent in the six-month period that ended March 31 compared to the same period a year ago, matching the national average, according to preliminary figures released Monday.
Total paid Sunday circulation was off 1.7 percent in the same span, according to the Schaumburg-based Audit Bureau of Circulations, or ABC, better than the national average of 3.1 percent calculated by the Newspaper Association of America, an industry trade group.
The Tribune has been paring its third-party sales of late, choosing to focus instead on home subscription and single-copy sales rather than on bulk sales to hotels and others. Its weekday total paid average of 566,827, No. 8 nationally, included a 1.6 percent increase in home delivery circulation. Its Sunday average of 940,620, No. 3 nationally, included a 2.1 percent increase in home subscriptions.
“During the past few years, Tribune has led a trend in the industry in focusing on individually paid circulation,” the paper said in a statement. “This reflects a strong commitment to growing audiences that are actively engaged with Tribune content and are most likely to respond to advertiser messages.”
Six papers in the top 25 gained paid weekday circulation, according to the ABC. But only two of them — the fifth-ranked New York Post, which increased 7.6 percent, to 724,748, and its rival at No. 6, the New York Daily News, which improved 1.4 percent, to 718,174 — upped its numbers by more than 1 percent. The Post has been expanding its reach by entering new markets around the country, such as Chicago, where it began selling in November.
USA Today remained the nation’s No. 1 weekday paper, improving its paid circulation 0.2 percent, to 2,278,022, followed by the Wall Street Journal (up 0.6 percent, to 2,062,312), the New York Times (down 1.9 percent, to 1,120,420) and the Los Angeles Times (down 4.2 percent, to 815,723). Like the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times is owned by Tribune Co., which is in the process of going private in a deal engineered by billionaire Sam Zell.
The Sunday paid circulation figures were even more challenged. Not a single paper among the top 15 showed a gain. The New York Times (down 3.4 percent, to 1,627,062) was No. 1, followed by the Los Angeles Times (down 4.7 percent, to 1,173,096) and the Chicago Tribune.
The Chicago Sun-Times, the city’s No. 2 daily newspaper, is still going through a series of six-month censure audits from the ABC, resulting from a past circulation scandal, meaning its results were not included in Monday’s report. The most recent Sun-Times numbers available for the tabloid were released more than 16 months ago, in December 2005, and covered the period that ended in March 2005 (382,796 weekday, 333,490 Sunday).
An ABC spokesman said the Sun-Times’ audited figures for the six-month stretch that ended in September 2005 are expected in a few weeks.
The Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald remained essentially flat, increasing its Sunday paid circulation by 242 papers, to 149,613, and its weekday circulation by 78 papers, to 151,190.
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Circulation figures vs. 2006
Average paid weekday circulation of the nation’s 20 largest newspapers for the six-month period that ended in March. The percentage changes are from the comparable year-ago period. %% RANK PAPER CIRCULATION PCT. CHG.
1 USA Today 2,278,022 +0.2%
2 The Wall Street Journal 2,062,312 +0.6
3 The New York Times 1,120,420 -1.9
4 Los Angeles Times 815,723 -4.2
5 New York Post 724,748 +7.6
6 New York Daily News 718,174 +1.4
7 The Washington Post 699,130 -3.5
8 Chicago Tribune 566,827 -2.1
9 Houston Chronicle 503,114 -2
10 The Arizona Republic 433,731 -1.1
11 Dallas Morning News 411,919 -14.3
12 Newsday, Long Island 398,231 -6.9
13 San Francisco Chronicle 386,564 -2.9
14 The Boston Globe 382,503 -3.7
15 The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. 372,629 -6.1
16 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 357,399 -2.1
17 The Philadelphia Inquirer 352,593 +0.6
18 Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul 345,252 -4.9
19 The Plain Dealer, Cleveland 344,704 +0.4
20 Detroit Free Press 329,989 -4.7
%% The Dallas Morning News is reporting for the first time since being censured in 2004 for misstating circulation figures. The Chicago Sun-Times has not yet resumed reporting.
Sources: Associated Press, Audit Bureau of Circulations
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philrosenthal@tribune.com
