The Top 25 U.S. Newspapers from September 2011 FAS-FAX

Neal Lulofs, Executive Vice President, Communications and Strategic Planning, and General Manager, ABCi

ABC released the semiannual newspaper FAS-FAX and Audience-FAX report today. This FAS-FAX report includes top-line circulation data for all newspaper members for the six months ending September 30, 2011. Newspapers participating in Audience-FAX have additional print and online readership and website activity data included in the report.

Today’s FAS-FAX report reflects the U.S. newspaper rule changes that went into effect last October. This FAS-FAX report, therefore, has new and redefined categories of circulation. A fact sheet and a list of frequently asked questions about the changes are available here. And as a reminder, ABC recommends not making direct comparisons of September 2011 data to prior audit periods.

Below are a few charts pulled from the FAS-FAX and Audience-FAX report: the top 25 Sunday and weekday U.S. newspapers by circulation and the top 25 U.S. newspapers with digital editions.

Average Circulation at the Top 25 U.S. Daily Newspapers For the Six Months Ending 9/30/11
Preliminary Figures as Filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations – Subject to Audit
State	Newspaper Name	Total Circulation  Excluding Branded Editions	Total Branded Editions	Total Average Circulation
NY	WALL STREET JOURNAL	2,096,169		2,096,169
DC	USA TODAY	1,784,242		1,784,242
NY	NEW YORK TIMES	1,150,589		1,150,589
NY	NEW YORK DAILY NEWS	601,097	4,580	605,677
CA	LOS ANGELES TIMES	572,998		572,998
CA	SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS	184,018	343,550	527,568
NY	NEW YORK POST	512,067		512,067
DC	WASHINGTON POST	507,465		507,465
IL	CHICAGO TRIBUNE	425,370		425,370
TX	DALLAS MORNING NEWS	255,613	154,029	409,642
NY	NEWSDAY	404,542		404,542
IL	CHICAGO SUN-TIMES	236,371	152,982	389,353
TX	HOUSTON CHRONICLE	328,813	40,897	369,710
CO	DENVER POST	343,180	9,935	353,115
PA	PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER	260,375	70,759	331,134
MN	STAR-TRIBUNE	298,147		298,147
AZ	ARIZONA REPUBLIC	292,838		292,838
CA	ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER	172,942	97,867	270,809
OH	CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER	243,299		243,299
WA	SEATTLE TIMES	242,814		242,814
OR	OREGONIAN	242,784		242,784
FL	ST. PETERSBURG TIMES	240,024		240,024
MI	DETROIT FREE PRESS (e)	234,579		234,579
CA	SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE	220,515		220,515
CA	SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE	219,347		219,347

Average Circulation at the Top 25 U.S. Sunday Newspapers For the Six Months Ending 9/30/11
Preliminary Figures as Filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations – Subject to Audit
State	Newspaper Name	Total Circulation  Excluding Branded Editions	Total Branded Editions	Total Average Circulation
NY	NEW YORK TIMES	1,645,152		1,645,152
TX	HOUSTON CHRONICLE	519,155	392,409	911,564
CA	LOS ANGELES TIMES	905,920		905,920
DC	WASHINGTON POST	726,990	119,029	846,019
IL	CHICAGO TRIBUNE	781,128		781,128
NY	NEW YORK DAILY NEWS	666,892	746	667,638
MI	DETROIT FREE PRESS (e)	487,953	151,397	639,350
CA	SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS	219,252	383,314	602,566
MN	STAR TRIBUNE	518,095	25,538	543,633
CO	DENVER POST	495,172	42,961	538,133
PA	PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER	482,457		482,457
NY	NEWSDAY	476,723		476,723
AZ	ARIZONA REPUBLIC	472,200		472,200
GA	ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION	410,022		410,022
OH	CLEVELAND PLAIN-DEALER	344,089	59,856	403,945
FL	ST. PETERSBURG TIMES	403,229		403,229
IL	CHICAGO SUN-TIMES	233,445	167,061	400,506
CA	ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER	283,997	113,767	397,764
NY	NEW YORK POST	379,673		379,673
TX	DALLAS MORNING NEWS	362,134	12,519	374,653
MA	BOSTON GLOBE	360,186		360,186
TX	SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS	246,742	97,378	344,120
WA	SEATTLE TIMES	333,937		333,937
NJ	NEWARK STAR-LEDGER	333,601		333,601
MO	ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH	332,825		332,825

Top 25 U.S. Daily Newspapers with Digital Editions For the Six Months Ending 9/30/11
Preliminary Figures as Filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations — Subject to Audit
State	Newspaper Name	Digital Replica	Digital Nonreplica	Total Digital
NY	WALL STREET JOURNAL		537,469	537,469
NY	NEW YORK TIMES	18,107	361,896	380,003
NY	NEW YORK DAILY NEWS	29,255	136,186	165,441
NY	NEWSDAY	1,103	111,383	112,486
MI	DETROIT FREE PRESS	94,657	1,782	96,439
CO	DENVER POST	37,297	47,007	84,304
NY	NEW YORK POST	11,188	59,678	70,866
TX	HOUSTON CHRONICLE	68,004	1,711	69,715
DC	USA TODAY	33,324	19,072	52,396
MN	STAR TRIBUNE	42,829	8,054	50,883
CA	INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY	45,999	3,048	49,047
MI	DETROIT NEWS	48,698	336	49,034
MN	ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS	48,505		48,505
TX	DALLAS MORNING NEWS	45,922		45,922
CA	SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE	29,859	11,911	41,770
CA	LOS ANGELES TIMES	21,823	16,332	38,155
FL	MIAMI HERALD	34,682	2,581	37,263
PA	PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER	22,754	13,138	35,892
CA	SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS	34,353	1,312	35,665
MO	KANSAS CITY STAR	31,426	717	32,143
UT	SALT LAKE CITY TRIBUNE	29,561	816	30,377
DC	WASHINGTON POST	16,899	10,256	27,155
OH	TOLEDO BLADE	26,959		26,959
NY	WOMENS WEAR DAILY	26,080		26,080
WA	SEATTLE TIMES	24,212	1,662	25,874

Top 10 Print Media Websites - November 2010

Top 10 Current Events & News Online Destinations - March 2010

Top 5 Monthly Magazines, from MIN Online

The June 2010 monthly ad-page boxscores brightened the advertising skies for more than half the magazines that we track in min. Of the 150 monthly titles in our chart, down from 161 titles the previous year, 92 were up in ad pages, an exuberant leap from the 17 that were up in June of 2009. In addition, 77 titles are showing a positive ad-page percent gain year-to-date 2010 vs. 2009, compared to only eight titles that were up during the first half of 2009. As reported on minonline, this is the first quarterly increase since the 2007 fourth quarter's +3.84%.

Elle Decor takes the lead in highest percent gain for ad pages. “The issue itself benefited from the timing of a new editorial franchise — the ELLE DECOR A-List, in which our editors named 25 top designers and five to watch,” says VP/publisher Barbara Friedmann. “This gave our fantastic sales staff a compelling opportunity to bring their endemic home furnishings advertisers earlier in the spring.”

Money took the second spot, with a 79% hike in ad pages from June 2009. Much of this is due to a strong advertising performance from key advertisers in industries ranging from pharma and financial services, and automotive industries and certain other editorial franchises, says publisher Frank Wall, . In addition, June begins the launch of “Money Women” (sponsored by HP), which targets 900,000 subscriber homes with women who have kids in the household.

Popular Mechanics' publisher Bill Congdon tells min that the 61% increase is due to their effort in cornering the men’s market. “The advertising growth in the June issue came from a diverse range of ad categories — new automotive, pharma, home improvement and men’s personal care products [industries],” he said. The key was creating integrated packages that provided advertisers with touch points in print, online, video and grassroots events. One example was the Chevy Camaro section called Top Shop, which appeared in both print and on the Web.


Cooking Light's 54.67% hike in ad pages came alongside the magazine's redesign (September 9), VP/publisher Stephen Bohlinger tells min. “Clearly our art direction and editorial flow is resonating with both readers and advertisers alike. Cooking Light is firing on all cylinders,” Bohlinger says. Their diverse ad base included Covergirl, Garnier (HBA) Discover Card (financial) Embassy Suites (travel), Samsung (home), GMC Terrain (auto), Frangelico (distilled spirits) and Dress barn (retail).