Newspapers Shed Unprofitable Readers

Wall Street Journal:

Already struggling from the industry's worst stretch in decades, most of the largest U.S. newspapers saw a decline in print circulation in the six months through September, according to industry estimates of data the Audit Bureau of Circulations is releasing Monday.

But the reality is in some ways less bleak than the latest numbers indicate: Some newspapers have raised newsstand prices, curtailed discounted copies and halted delivery to the least profitable customers. Also, while print circulation has been declining for years as readers continue their mass migration to the Web, many publishers point out they are reaching more readers than before through print and online. The problem for publishers is the printed paper commands higher ad rates than the Web so even as more people read newspaper content, the papers pull in less money.

One of the biggest declines came at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where weekday circulation fell 13.4%. About half of that drop was the result of a decision to cut the number of counties the publisher delivers to 49 from 74, according to Bob Eickhoff, senior vice president of operations for the paper, owned by Cox Enterprises Inc.

Others are following a similar strategy in light of a growing recognition by publishers that subscribers in faraway locations aren't valuable enough to advertisers to justify the high cost of getting them the paper.

"Some circulation just isn't as valuable as others," said Arizona Republic publisher John Zidich, who attributed half of his Gannett Co. paper's 5.5% weekday circulation decline to the publisher's decision to stop delivering to customers more than about 200 miles away.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[larry278]

Does this mean that the local blute will stop phoning me to sell me a subscription? I live in a 1 paper town & the local blute is a Trib paper. WTF wants to read a Trib paper? While I'm an alte cocker & in the demographic of those who read local blutes, I have a computer. That means that I get the news far before a Trib paper would print it & I get the news that Trib papers never print, like the police blotter. OK, I'm not a native of this burg either, the obits & local news & puffery don't interest me. But no Trib paper is worth a damn. Sam Zell needs to fold all of the Trib's papers & sell the real estate to pay his debts. Let some local go broke publishing a daily paper.

[Roxie Beaver]

Oh, hahaha! When I first clicked on this, it went straight to the WSJ, where of course I was blocked because I cancelled my subscription as soon as it became Murdock's WSJ. What a joke.

And I cancelled my subscription to my hometown paper, the San Antonio Express News, when they endorsed McCain recently..­.

I guess I'm one of those subscribers who "just isn't as valuable as others."

With my subscription savings, I'm now receiving The Nation, The Progressive, Harper's, Mother Jones, Outside, and Mother Earth News. I'm putting my money where it matters, to me.