Newspaper circulation in free fall, Globe drops 23%, Ledger & Enterprise down 10%; Cape Cod Times -8.4%, USA Today -13.6%, Worcester Telegram -9.4%, will charge for content

Downside to a price hike: The Globe loses nearly one fourth of its paid readers
Herald down 12%, Cape Cod Times down 8.4%, Telegram 9.4%, Republican 18%

Top 25 List by Daily Circulation
Newspaper Circ as of 3/31/10/ % Change

1. Wall Street Journal 2,092,523 +0.5%
2. USA Today 1,826,622 -13.58%
3. The New York Times 951,063 -8.47%
4. Los Angeles Times 616,606 -14.74%
5. Washington Post 578,482 -13.06%
6. NY Daily News 535,059 -11.25%
7. New York Post 525,004 -5.94%
8. San Jose Mercury News* 516,701
9. Chicago Tribune 452,145 -9.79%
10. Houston Chronicle 366,578 -13.77%
11. The Philadelphia Inquirer** 356,189
12. The Arizona Republic 351,207 -9.88%
13. Newsday 334,809 -9.07%
14. The Denver Post*** 333,675 N/A
15. Star Tribune, 295,438 -7.71%
16. St. Petersburg Times 278,888 -1.49%
17. Chicago Sun-Times 268,803 -13.88%
18. The Plain Dealer, 267,888 -8.14%
19. The Oregonian 263,600 -1.83%
20. The Seattle Times*** 263.468 N/A
21. Dallas Morning News 260,659 -21.47%
22. Detroit Free Press 252,017 -13.31%
23. San Diego Union-Trib 249,630 -4.45%
24. SF Chronicle 241,330 -22.68%
25. The Star-Ledger, 236,017 -17.79%
            - Editor & Publisher.

Thanks to a big price hike, The Boston Globe last week was able to boast of another jump in newspaper circulation revenue. Today, however, we saw a glimpse of the big downside to last spring’s home delivery and newsstand increases...

Of course, the Globe isn't the only paper here that's losing paid readers. The Boston Herald's daily circulation fell another 12 percent in the past year, and the Republican of Springfield was down 18 percent. My employer, The Patriot Ledger, dropped 10 percent, as did our sister paper, The Enterprise of Brockton. The Cape Cod Times (down 8.4 percent) and the T&G in Worcester (down 9.4 percent) also shed similarly sized chunks of their readerships... Patriot Ledger.
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At the Globe, higher prices, lower circulation
Daily circulation is down 23%, others follow

If you take a look at the new list of the top 25 daily newspapers in the United States, you might notice something odd: the Boston Globe, a longtime fixture, has disappeared. In fact, the Globe's weekday circulation has plunged so much that it now sells fewer papers than the Oregonian, the San Diego Union-Tribune and Newark's Star-Ledger.

In a memo to Globe staff members that was obtained by Media Nation, publisher Chris Mayer says the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations show the Globe's weekday paid print circulation is now 232,432, down 23 percent from a year ago. On Sundays, a category in which the Globe is still a top-25 paper, circulation is 378,949, a decline of 19 percent... MediaNation.
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Newspaper Circulation nationwide falls nearly 9%

The New York Times dropped 8.5%, The Los Angeles Times 14.7%, Chicago Tribune 9.8%.

The reality facing many American newspaper publishers continues to look stark, as figures released Monday show deep circulation declines, with average weekday sales down almost 9 percent since the same time last year.

In the six-month period ending March 31, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Sunday sales dropping 6.5 percent and weekday sales 8.7 percent compared with the same six-month period a year ago. The figures are based on reports filed by hundreds of individual papers.

The decline was widespread, as nearly all of the major newspapers and many of the smaller ones lost circulation. Among the 25 largest papers, The San Francisco Chronicle suffered the most, losing 22.7 percent of its weekday sales.

Among the 25 largest circulation newspapers, 10 had declines in weekday circulation of more than 10 percent. The Sunday circulation figures were slightly higher, though far from a bright spot, as five of the 25 largest papers reported double-digit declines... NY Times.
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How to end it quicker?
Worcester Telegram to charge readers for online content

A major change is in the works for those who read the Telegram and Gazette online. The newspaper will soon begin charging readers for locally produced news content. Come summer time the Worcester Telegram & Gazette will be putting a price on getting online local news.

The announcement came Monday that the 143-year-old paper will be charging non subscribers a fee to access local stories. Viewers will be able to read a pre-determined number of stories before they are asked to pay...a price that is yet to be determined.

In a press release the T&G stated:

"This new business model will open a new revenue stream that will help support the gathering, writing and editing of the quality news our readers cannot get anywhere else."

Gareth Charter of Worcester Magazine says this is a risky move.

The announcement shocked a lot of people especially considering the T&G's sister paper, the Boston Globe, has no plans to charge viewers; Both are owned by the New York Times, who has announced that they will introduce a model similar to the T&G... NECN.

EDITOR's NOTE: The Standrad-Times started charging for local content in January, see story here.