2004 Annual Report - Newspaper Audience

Newspaper circulation is in decline.

The root problems go back to the late 1940s, when the percentage of Americans reading newspapers began to drop. But for years the U.S. population was growing so much that circulation kept rising and then, after 1970, remained stable.

That changed in 1990 when circulation began to decline in absolute numbers.

And the problem now appears to be more than fewer people developing the newspaper habit. People who used to read every day now read less often. Some people who used to read a newspaper have stopped altogether.

Today, just more than half of Americans (54 percent) read a newspaper during the week, somewhat more (62 percent) on Sundays, and the number is continuing to drop.¹

Overall, some 55 million newspapers are sold each day, 59 million on Sunday.

At the same time, the number of newspapers in the country has been on a steady decline for even longer, dropping nearly 1 percent a year for now two decades to 1,457 in 2002.²

Where are readers going? It is impossible to say fully. Some people may be getting news online, some perhaps from cable television. Some may be opting out of traditional news sources. Others may be sharing copies of a paper among multiple readers. Many people now read newspapers only occasionally, a couple days a week, but no longer everyday. Much of the loss came from people no longer reading afternoon papers. Whatever it is, these people are not paying everyday for the journalism produced by newspapers, even if they are reading it in other outlets such as online.

Some newspaper companies are now de-emphasizing paid circulation and pushing total readership as more meaningful. Readership helps capture multiple readers in a single household or people reading a copy in public settings like a coffee shop or waiting room. And readership studies can provide advertisers with more detailed information about who reads, what they read and how much time they spend with a newspaper. But the emphasis on readership is also a sign that the circulation story is not a good one.