Daily newspaper circulation plummets

Circulation at the nation’s daily newspapers dropped 8.7 percent for the six-month period ended March 31 compared to a year ago, as financially strapped consumers curb costs and click online for free news reports.

Sunday circulation fell 6.5 percent, another big concern for newspaper executives who depend heavily on solid readership to lure retailers pushing their sales, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Monday.

However, the daily and Sunday circulation figures are slightly better than the previous six-month report, when daily circulation declined 10.6 percent and Sunday readership dropped 7.5 percent.

But the just-completed six-month period was definitely painful for the industry, which has endured a dramatic decline in advertising revenue and circulation during the Great Recession. Several newspapers — including the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer — have closed, falling victim to the industry’s woes

Thanks, Sacramento Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2010/04/26/daily20.html