Newspapers see sharp circulation drop of 4.6 pct

NEW YORK — The nation's daily newspapers, already finding advertising revenue fell sharply because of the weak economy, saw circulation decline more steeply than anticipated in the latest reporting period, an auditing agency said Monday.

Average weekday circulation was 38,165,848 in the six-months ending in September, a 4.6 percent decline from 40,022,356 a year earlier at the 507 papers that reported circulation totals in both periods.

The drop was only 2.6 percent in the September 2007 period, compared with September 2006. In the six-month period that ended in March 2008, the decline was 3.6 percent over a year earlier, according to circulation figures that newspapers submitted to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Sunday circulation fell even more, 4.8 percent, to 43,631,646 in the latest period at the 571 papers with comparable totals. The drop was 3.5 percent a year ago and 4.6 percent in the period ending in March.

Circulation and advertising have been dropping at newspapers as readers continue to migrate to the Internet. Ad revenue began to decline more steeply this summer as the weak economy prompted advertisers to pull back on spending.

The sharper circulation declines appear to be a response to that, said Rick Edmonds, media analyst at the journalism think tank Poynter Institute.

"Times are tough, and they are looking at everything that's in their expense base," he said. "Building new subscribers is an expensive proposition."

Some newspapers have purposely let some sales slide to focus on those readers who are coveted by advertisers and exclude those in outlying areas that are more expensive to reach.

Circulation could drop even faster as regular readers, in a tight economy, decide they no longer need their printed newspapers, Edmonds warned.

Many papers have offset circulation declines with price increases, though papers risk losing readers if they raise prices too much.

In a sign of hope, the Newspaper Association of America said last week that usage of newspaper Web sites grew nearly 16 percent in the third quarter, compared with last year, to an average of more than 68 million monthly unique visitors.

But online ad sales haven't increased fast enough to offset the declines in print, which still makes up the bulk of a paper's revenue.