By Gina Cuclis

Double Digit Circulation Declines at SF Chronicle, Santa Rosa Press Democrat & Marin Independent Journal

Of the 379 U.S. dailies that reported April to September sales to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the San Francisco Chronicle had the largest percentage drop in weekday circulation, 25.8 percent, compared to the same six-month period in 2008.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat had a 10.5 percent decline in weekday circulation, which was on par with the industry average. The Marin Independent Journal's six-month weekday circulation decline of 10.7 percent was also about average. The national average decline was 10.6 percent, the largest six-month average percentage drop in ten years. Nationwide, daily newspapers sold about 44 million copies per weekday, the lowest total daily circulation since the 1940s.

Management's Reaction

The continued decline of newspapers' print editions certainly isn't a surprise, as increasing numbers of people are turning to online sources to get their news.

Santa Rosa Press Democrat publisher, Bruce Keyse, said in a PD article, "Our numbers reflect some of the dynamics visible elsewhere in the nation: We've increased the reach of our news through our online products and we've been forced to cut circulation in our more remote rural areas when the cost of delivery became prohibitive."

Newspaper analysts also credit the recent circulation plunge to subscription price increases. Many dailies have significantly increased subscription rates to offset the decline in advertising revenue. The SF Chronicle now charges $7.75 a week for home delivery. Three dollars a week more than last year.

SF Chronicle President Mark Adkins told the Associated Press, "bringing in more money from readers is now more important than trying to preserve circulation."

Marin IJ publisher Matthew Wilson said in an IJ article that "some of the IJ's circulation drop can be attributed to an increase in the price of papers in the stores and in racks to 75 cents and a decrease in papers distributed to schools through the Newspapers in Education program."

Decline in Newspaper Circulation Doesn't Mean a Decline in Readers

ABC circulation data reflect print readership only. Print circulation is often cited by people who want to proclaim newspapers are dead. However, circulation numbers don't tell the whole story. As Keyse states in the quote above, people are reading the PD online. Adkins told the San Francisco Business Times that focusing on circulation statistics is "sort of a myopic way to look at the business."

Chronicle executives this week did get some good news. Figures from the web analytics company Omniture SiteCatalyst show the growing popularity of the paper's online edition, SFGate.com. The site received 125 million page views in September — a 36% increase over last year.  And the number of unique visitors to the site grew by 15% to 12.1 million.

The Issue Is How to Be Profitable

As I've discussed in previous posts, the newspaper industry is struggling to find a profitable business model. Readers expect information online to be free. What newspapers earn from online advertising doesn't pay the bills. How much further newspapers can sustain circulation declines and continue to stay in business is the question.

If you have thoughts about the future of newspapers, please leave a comment.