Web readership climbs as newspaper circulation suffers

A study by the Newspaper Association of America has found that US newspaper circulation fell by 2.5% during the six-month period ending March 31, 2006. In comparison, the online audience for newspapers hit record levels in the first quarter of 2006, with more than one in three of all internet users visiting a newspaper web site over the course of a month.

The analysis was based on 770 newspapers, using Fas-Fax data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations and from the Newspaper Audience database (NADbase).

Average daily circulation fell to about 45.4 million readers, compared with about 46.6 million in the same six-month period ending March 31 2005. Sunday circulation at 610 newspapers fell 3.1% to 48.5 million.

In contrast, data from Nielsen/NetRatings showed that newspaper web sites drew 56 million users, or 37% of all online users during the first quarter of 2006, an 8% increase over the same period a year ago.

Some US newspapers have nevertheless managed to buck this trend and maintain their circulation. The New York Times’ readership climbed by 0.5% and USA Today by 0.1%. Their share-prices have also gained by 4.6% and 2.9% respectively.

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