December 2006

Semis gain ground in circulation

Dailies, weeklies drop

Semiweekly newspapers were the only group to gain circulation and end up on the plus side for growth in 2006, but Texas newspapers still are reaching a combined 3.9 million readers each year.

TPA conducted its annual review of circulation reported on the October Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation that each newspaper is required to file with the U.S. Postal Service. The review records whether each newspaper’s circulation went up or down compared to 2005 and tallies the total circulation gained and lost for all newspapers and each group — daily, semiweekly and weekly.

The annual postal statement covers the circulation period from October 2005 to September 2006.

In the review, semiweeklies showed a small gain in circulation with a combined increase of 369, even though more individual semiweeklies lost circulation than gained — 48 percent dropped and 44 percent gained while 8 percent stayed the same.

Dailies and weeklies both lost circulation in 2006.

Weekly newspapers recorded a combined circulation loss of 12,213 and more newspapers showed individual decreases than increases — 49 percent decreased, 35 percent increased and 16 percent stayed the same.

Daily newspapers reported the highest loss among all three groups, with a combined decrease of 104,325 and 70 percent of all dailies recording individual losses. Only 24 percent  increased in individual circulation and 6 percent stayed the same.

Overall Texas newspapers lost 116,169 combined circulation in 2006.

In other newspaper news, 2006 was a busy year for transactions with 33 newspapers changing hands.

The biggest deal of the year was McClatchy Co. purchasing Knight Ridder in the summer. The daily Fort Worth Star-Telegram was included in the multi-paper, national deal.

Several newspapers also changed publication frequency in 2006.

Texas gained one daily when the River Cities Tribune in Marble Falls converted from a weekly.

The state’s triweekly number stayed at four with the Hood County News returning to semiweekly publication but The Light & Champion in Center turning into three-a-week publication.

Three weeklies ceased publication and two merged in 2006.

TPA also gained five weekly members in 2006.