WSJ Gains, NYT Loses Circulation Over Last 6 Months

Only two of the top 25 American newspapers were able to avoid circulation declines over the past 6 months--but just barely. The Wall Street Journal gained a scant 0.35% to 2,069,463 subscribers in a period in which News Corp.'s (NWS) Rupert Murdoch took control and started to make changes. (Rupe's other NY paper, the New York Post, dropped 3% of its subscribers.) The other gainer was USA Today, up 0.27%.

The New York Times' (NYT) performance was more typical of the sector. The NYT dropped 3.85% to1,077,256 daily subscibers and Sunday circulation plummeted 9.2% in the last six months. A Times spokesperson told Editor &Publisher that two-thirds of the Sunday decline were related to the elimination of bonus days and third-party bulk copies. Also, the Times' raised both newsstand and home-delivery prices in July.

Here's how the top-25 fared over the last six months, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations via E&P:

USA TODAY: 2,284,219 -- 2,278,022 -- 0.27%
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: 2,069,463 -- 2,062,312 -- 0.35%
THE NEW YORK TIMES: 1,077,256 -- 1,120,420 - (-3.85%)
LOS ANGELES TIMES: 773,884 -- 815,723 -- (-5.13%)
DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK: 703,137 -- 718,173 -- (-2.09%)

NEW YORK POST: 702,488 -- 724,748 -- (-3.07%)
THE WASHINGTON POST: 673,180 -- 698,116 -- (-3.57%)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: 541,663 -- 566,827 -- (-4.44%)
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: 494,131 -- 503,114 -- (-1.79%)
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC: 413,332 -- 433,731 -- (-4.70%)

NEWSDAY: 379,613 -- 398,231 -- (-4.68%)
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: 370,345 -- 386,564 -- (-4.20%)
THE DALLAS MORNING MORNING NEWS: 368,313 -- 411,920 -- (-10.59%)
BOSTON GLOBE: 350,605 -- 382,503 -- (-8.34%)
STAR-LEDGER, NEWARK, N.J.: 345,130 -- 372,629 -- (-7.38%)

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: 334,150 -- 352,193 -- (-5.12%)
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER: 330,280 -- 344,705 -- (-4.18%)
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: 326,907 -- 357,399 -- (-8.53%)
STAR TRIBUNE, MINNEAPOLIS: 321,984 -- 345,252 -- (-6.74%)
ST. PETERSBURG (FLA.) TIMES: 316,007 -- 322,771 -- (-2.10%)

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: 312,274 -- N/A -- N/A
DETROIT FREE PRESS: 308,944 -- 330,242 -- (-6.45%)
THE OREGONIAN: 304,399 -- 319,624 -- (-4.76%)
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: 288,669 -- 296,331 -- (-2.59%)
THE SACRAMENTO BEE: 268,755 -- 279,032 -- (-3.68%)