“Overall circulation industrywide is flat and digital is growing,” said Neal Lulofs, an executive vice president with the Alliance for Audited Media, which released the figures on Tuesday. “Newspapers are engaging with readers in a variety of media types, wherever and whenever.”
The 593 audited daily newspapers had a 0.7 percent daily circulation decline, the group reported. The Wall Street Journal had the highest circulation, at 2,378,827, a 12.3 percent jump from the same time the year before.
The New York Times overtook USA Today for second place with a circulation of 1,865,318, a 17.6 percent rise from a year ago. USA Today’s circulation was down 7.9 percent, dropping to 1,674,306. The Los Angeles Times and New York Daily News followed in fourth and fifth places.
The figures include both print and digital subscriptions.
For the 519 Sunday newspapers audited, total circulation declined 1.4 percent. The New York Times ranked first with an average circulation of 2,322,429, a 15.9 percent increase from the same time the year before.
The Houston Chronicle ranked second, despite a 5.8 percent decline to 1,042,389. The Los Angeles Times was third; its circulation remained essentially flat at 954,010.
Mr. Lulofs cautioned that the growth for some newspapers could be attributed to how they have incorporated the community newspapers they own into their figures. For example, The Chicago Sun-Times counted an 11.6 percent rise in daily circulation, which included 55,241 copies sold by its regional papers. The Orange County Register recorded a 26.8 percent increase in its daily circulation, largely from the 84,071 copies generated by its branded newspapers.
Other papers showed growth because they started to include more varieties of digital editions, Mr. Lulofs said, citing The Star Ledger of Newark, an Advance Publications paper that has been facing potential cuts in its daily coverage. The paper’s daily circulation jumped 22.2 percent, with its digital circulation more than doubling in the last year.
Still, these digital figures should not be dismissed as simple maneuvering, Mr. Lulofs said. Digital circulation for The Wall Street Journal grew by 62.6 percent, to 898,012 in March 2013 from 552,288 in March 2012.
Last week, The New York Times Company announced that paid digital subscribers to The Times and The International Herald Tribune had grown to 676,000 by the end of March.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/business/media/digital-subscribers-buoy-newspaper-circulation.html?partner=rss&emc=rss