For those of us who were quick to recognize the potential of this Internet thing, Tuesday’s news regarding subscription declines doesn’t come as a surprise.
Editor and Publisher reported on Tuesday the nation’s print publications continued to see sharp declines in subscription and circulation rates over the past six months.
Driven in part by price increases imposed by publishers scrambling to offset rapidly eroding advertising sales, the average daily circulation at 379 U.S. newspapers nosedived 10.6 percent in the April-September time frame from the same six-month period last year.
According to figures released on Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it’s the largest drop recorded so far during a 10-year period of steadily declining paid readership.
Not so coincidentally, that same time period has seen an explosion of Internet news sources that don’t charge readers seeking immediate access to information.
The latest decline outdistanced a 7.1 percent decrease in the October 2008-March 2009 period and a 4.6 percent decline in last year’s April-September window.
The Nation’s Top 5 Print Publications With Total Circulation and Percentage of Increase/Decrease Over the Past Six Months:
1. The Wall Street Journal – 2,024,269 – (0.61%)
2. USA Today – 1,900,116 – (-17.15%)
3. The New York Times – 927,851 – (-7.28%)
4. Los Angeles Times – 657,467 – (-11.05%)
5. The Washington Post – 582,844 – (-6.40%)
