Aided by a change in the way circulation statistics are calculated, The Kansas City Star was able to get its Sunday circulation figure back up over the 300,000 benchmark for the six-month period ending March 31.
Overall, however, considering the direction of newspaper advertising, the picture for the newspaper industry remains grim.
Figures released earlier this week by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) show that The Star’s Sunday circulation was 305,113 for the period ending March 31, compared to 290,302 for the period that ended last Sept. 30. (The figures for both periods include digital subscriptions, which make up more than 10 percent of circulation.)
When the 290,000 figure came out last fall, it shocked many Star watchers because it was the first time in the modern newspaper era that circulation had fallen below 300,000.
At least partly to mitigate the ongoing circulation declines around the nation, ABC, which is run by publishers, changed the rules to include distribution categories that, until now, have not been included in the “top line” circulation figure. Among those categories are newspapers distributed through newspapers in education (NIE) programs and copies sold in bulk to places like hotels and restaurants.
Where ABC’s top line formerly was “total average paid circulation,” it is now “total average circulation.”
Because of the changes, ABC cautioned against making direct comparisons of the March data with data from earlier reporting periods.
The Star’s two other circulation categories — daily (Monday through Friday) and Saturday — also benefited from the change. For the most recent period, daily circulation stood at 209,258, compared with 206,441 for September, and Saturday circulation was 215,961, compared with 211,966 for September.
Unfortunately for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the rules changes weren’t sufficient to give that paper a bump over last September’s Sunday figures.
Like The Star, the Post-Dispatch fell below a key benchmark — 400,000 Sunday sales — last year, when circulation dipped to 365,589. The comparable ABC figure for March 31 was 360,450.
However you look at it, it’s fair to say that circulation revenue at The Star, the Post-Dispatch and the vast majority of daily newspapers in the U.S. is continuing to fall. And when that fact is combined with the unrelenting decrease in newspaper advertising, it should make the most ardent of believers in newspapers avert their gaze.
Alan D. Mutter, who writes the Reflections of a Newsosaur blog out of San Francisco, reported recently that “although television, online, radio and even magazine ad revenues all moved into positive territory by the end of 2010, newspaper (ad) sales dropped 6.3 percent.”
One of the worst first-quarter showings was turned in by The Star’s owner, McClatchy Co., where ad revenue fell 11 percent from the first quarter of 2010.
For the industry as a whole, Mutter said that annual print and digital newspaper ad sales have now dropped nearly 50 percent from the all-time high of $49.4 billion in 2005.
As an example of the dreadful collapse, Mutter pointed to automotive advertising. “Publishers, who collectively sold more than $5 billion in automotive classifieds as recently as 2004, booked a mere $1.1 billion in the category in 2010,” Mutter said.
During the same period, auto advertising on local TV stations jumped nearly 54 percent, to $2.6 billion, and online auto advertising rose nearly 14 percent to $2.8 billion.
“Because a growing number of well-informed consumers make their decisions before contacting dealers,” Mutter said, “the point of sale has moved to the web, not the showroom. Dealers don’t need newspapers to remind consumers they are there, because empowered consumers know who the dealers are, know what models are in stock and know how much they should be paying for a car.”
So, in many case, the information “vehicle” — the newspaper — is cut out.
For consumers, the change has been fantastic. For newspapers, it’s been very tough, and the road ahead doesn’t look any better.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Jim,
I hate to pile on but the latest edition of Newsweek (now in thrall to thedailybeast.com) has a factoid from the same site listing “10 Majors That Don’t Pay”….. #1 is Journalism.
The King is dead… long live the King.
JS
Jim, are you by any chance following the story of T.R. Hanrahan, journalism teacher and advisor to student journalists at MSSU (Missouri Southern State University) in Joplin?
I copy from a blog:
Hanrahan, whose students were the only Joplin area reporters to consistently provide information on misdeeds and missteps by the administration of University President Bruce Speck, was given the heave-ho recently despite a record that includes being named Adviser of the Year by the Missouri College Media Association and having the Chart and its reporters receive regional and national honors.
Apparently the college printed its fall schedule, from which Hanrahan was omitted, five days before they told him he was fired.
Uof Misery 1968 – 1972, an institution I have (and will) bad mouthed for decades ……….
Ruskin, never as good as the PR broad casted and recently tearing down a perfectly good campus barrier for a $265K totally unnecessary artsy fartsy ‘Art Fence’ ………..
Months later, Ruskin was almost dissolved as a high school and the district is still on the ropes on accreditation ………..
USAF, ROTC and active duty, federal lie after federal lie, and my broad casting of the truth to generations of youth ………
Ruskin J-school reflection: even tho state wide power house Arch Wrisinger [more ‘Missouri Youth Writes’ and school news paper awards in an average year than the others combined] was lateral and non confrontational, he retired ‘early’ and went from part time to full time at Long View Community College. Now he was, besides being the ‘Stand and Deliver’ of journalism in the mid west, a (never married) single guy living with mom. Hmmmmmmmm, I’m just saying ………
Peg — I haven’t followed it. Sounds cloak and daggerish.
Call me confused; who, ultimately, are the jury-rigged numbers intended to help:
The (un)subscribers, who are unaware of the figures;
The (non)advertisers, businessmen who have obviously computed better bottom lines elsewhere;
The Star, which (ostensibly) can charge the same rates to (un)subscribers and (non)advertisers alike;
Or Mark Zieman and Gary Pruitt, Captain and 1st Mate to a ship of fools (McClatchy shareholders)?
Hmm; talk about OBE…
If the rumors of Zieman’s corporate ascendancy are true, what does that say about things at the Star? More layoffs or have they finally reached a USA Today equilibrium?
Interesting…
I must be out of the loop, Nick; I haven’t heard any rumors about Zieman going anywhere. Care to fill us in? (Off the record, of course.)
A couple of folks at McClatchy emailed me late last night that the scuttlebutt is that Zieman is being promoted to VP of Operations out in Sacramento.
Emailing and calling for more confirmation but it’s quiet, too quiet…
; ‘ )
…and, no – haven’t heard a peep where Weil would end up.
Dammit, Jim, you need to visit Bottom Line more often!!!!
http://www.bottomlinecom.com/kcnews/ziemanmaydepartkcstar.html
…so, word from the West Coast is that Weil is being convinced to “retire”, thereby opening the slot for Zieman.
Youth will out…
OK, I’m just back from a few days in Louisville and trying to get caught up on this. (Congratulations, John, on apparently being first with the rumor.)
The man being talked about for replacement is Robert J. Weil, who has been vice president of operations for McClatchy since 1997. He’s about 60 and oversees McClatchy operations in the Northwest, Midwest, Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Mississipi. As overseer of Midwestern operations, he would have responsibility for The Star. So, if he leaves, for whatever reason, and Zieman moves up, Zieman would be replacing the guy he reports to. Then, a big scrum would take place over replacing Zieman as publisher here.
Let’s see how things unfold.