December 2004

Circulation drops at 54% of Texas newspapers; dailies record highest dip

Slightly more than half (54 percent) of Texas’ newspapers reported declines in circulation in the last 12 months but the most dramatic drop was among dailies.

Of Texas’ 88 dailies, 68 percent reported declines in circulation on the annual Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation, which all paid newspapers must file in October to continue periodical mailing privileges with the U.S. Postal Service. The form covers circulation data from October 2003 to September 2004.

Only 20 percent of dailies reported increases while 12 percent stayed the same. Dailies recorded a combined total loss of 53,701 paid circulation, which includes mail and carrier subscribers as well as single copy sales.

The picture was similar for the state’s 61 semi- and triweekly newspapers — 61 percent reported declines in circulation while only 34 percent showed increases and 5 percent stayed the same. Semiweeklies recorded a combined total loss of 3,557 paid circulation.

Weekly newspapers fared the best out of all three groups with only half of the 369 weeklies reporting declines.

Weeklies also had the largest percentage of increased circulation — 39 percent — and the second largest percentage of stable circulation — 11 percent. Weeklies reported a total loss of 11,340 circulation.

Overall, Texas newspapers lost 68,598 total circulation from October 2003 to September 2004, combining for 4.11 million total circulation.

Among the state’s five largest dailies, only the Houston Chronicle and Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported increases on the postal form while the Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News and San Antonio Express-News all showed decreases.

The dramatic decrease among the state’s dailies follows a national trend.

The Newspaper Association of America reported that daily newspapers have been steadily losing circulation since 1987, the last year nationwide average circulation increased, according to a Nov. 30 The Washington Post article.

The Post cited changing lifestyles and the rise of other sources of news and information, such as cable television news channels, as contributing factors.

NAA said single-copy sales, as a percentage of all sales, have risen from 15.7 percent to 21.9 percent over the past four years. But the increase largely comes from declining subscription sales and does not mean the number of single-copy sales has risen.

Weekly newspapers still seem to be faring much better than dailies and are actually appear to be gaining circulation nationwide.

Editor & Publisher reported a steady increase in weekly newspaper circulation from 45.9 million in 1997 to 50.2 million in 2003. During the last eight years weekly circulation nationwide has only dropped once in 2000.