Now, do you recognize these figures?Monday, April 27, 2009
35 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yes, very scarey (with added sacrcasm).
ReplyDeleteNews for
Release
USA TODAY REMAINS TOP-SELLING
NEWSPAPER IN THE UNITED STATES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 27, 2009
McLean, Va. – USA TODAY remains the top-selling newspaper in the United States, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation report. USA TODAY’s daily circulation was 2,113,725 for the period ending March 31, 2009.
USA TODAY is the only newspaper with more than 2 million in print circulation with a total that’s 24% larger than the Wall Street Journal and is twice as high as the New York Times.
“USA TODAY is proud of our position as the only newspaper in the country with over 2 million in print circulation, selling more than 400,000 copies per day than our nearest competitor the Wall Street Journal,” said Susan Lavington, senior vice president of marketing for USA TODAY. “We credit this success to our unique brand of relevant, ‘What does it mean to me’ journalism that covers the full breadth of our shared American interests.”
USA TODAY was founded in 1982 with a mission to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Through its flagship newspaper and popular Web site, USA TODAY engages the national conversation and connects readers online through social media applications. USA TODAY, the nation's top-selling newspaper with a total average daily circulation of more than 2.1 million, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper Web site which launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.5 million readers daily. The USA TODAY news and information brand also includes: USA TODAY Education, USA TODAY LIVE, USA TODAY Mobile, Open Air magazine and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).
# # #
Your search - 2113725-2082189 - did not match any documents.
ReplyDeleteWell that was a pretty dumb link.
Is it the number of jelly beans in that giant jar in the store window?
ReplyDeleteTOP 3 Papers
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY -- 2,113,725 – (-7.46%)
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL -- 2,082,189 -- 0.61%
THE NEW YORK TIMES -- 1,039,031 -- (-3.55%)
The brass in the towers can release a blatant LIE in ther news release?
USA TODAY is the
~~only newspaper with more than 2 million~~
in print circulation with a total that’s 24% larger than the Wall Street Journal and is twice as high as the New York Times.
Better check your facts again Gannett...
Who is the twit who did the math on THAT piece of BS?
Plus, with over 50% of USAT circulation landing at hotel doorsteps (not including Marriott no longer participating and hotel occupancy being way off), actual subscription and single copy sales comparisons would be fun to see.
ReplyDelete4/27/2009 2:35 PM
ReplyDeleteBetter check YOUR facts, dumbass, before you go blow off your mouth about the end is near, the end is near.
WSJ gains are posted only with their digital offerings and not with print.
WSJ's ABC circulation includes electronic copies, while I believe USAT and NYT do not. What Lavington is referring to is an apples to apples comparison of paper copies. Still shady, but now you have the reasoning.
ReplyDeleteHey, 2:35, better check YOUR facts.
ReplyDeleteI'll leave it to USAT to defend itself, but any boob who can read an audit statement knows that the total figure cited for the WSJ includes online subs to its for-pay website. In terms of actual printed copies, USAT is tops.
Yes, Jim, the gap between the WSJ and USAT is narrowing rapidly. I have always thought that Rupert's real target was USAT readership, not the New York Times. It is quite clear USAT will lose its first place by September, and the WSJ will be first.
ReplyDeleteSo, I ;m guess that all those numbers represent the diffence between USAT circ and WSJ circ. I know that the big difference must have been narrowed when ABC allowed the paid on-line subs as part of the number. And someof you aren't scared? How many times on here has someone said "paid online subs is NOT the answer". Take a look what WSJ is doing. That's impressive.
ReplyDeleteRE: 3:31
ReplyDeleteYou're right, that is impressive, but you're not comparing ducks to ducks. Business news in the WSJ is worth paying for and the website is incredibly robust and pertinent to daily business news and stock trading.
It showes the WSJ holds value for it's readers and USAT is quickly losing ground.
ReplyDeleteNumber must be the total front pages posted to the Newseum during each month. Loss of publications?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 4:12 PM said...
ReplyDelete"It showes the WSJ holds value for it's readers and USAT is quickly losing ground."No, it doesn't "showe" anything of the sort. Perhaps you have some top-secret details you'd like to share to support your assertion? It also neglects detail that "showes" how almost 40% of the Journal's Individually Paid circulation comes in the 25%-50% (i.e., heavy) discount category, where USAT doesn't even play.
If you're going to slam your colleagues' hard work, at least get your shit straight.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 4:12 PM said...
ReplyDelete"It showes the WSJ holds value for it's readers and USAT is quickly losing ground."No, it doesn't "showe" anything of the sort. Perhaps you have some top-secret details you'd like to share to support your assertion? It also neglects detail that "showes" how almost 40% of the Journal's Individually Paid circulation comes in the 25%-50% (i.e., heavy) discount category, where USAT doesn't even play.
If you're going to slam your colleagues' hard work, at least get your shit straight.
USA TODAY the newspaper has been going through a steady dismantling for at least two years. Once the public/readership catches up and realizes what a diminished product they are getting, the circulation figures will take a more severe fall.
ReplyDeleteThe brand's head honchos put a lot of resources into building up the web site recently, and have bought out or laid off a fair number of print folks, in and out out of the newsroom, who were a big part of USAT's prior success. Sorry, but I don't seem that same set of values or even abilities on the front lines of the web site, nor do I see any evidence that the web site is going to pay the salaries and bills in the future. But regardless of that, the hit print sustained in order to pump up the web site will eventually make the paper far less competitive. The newspaper has become bland in appearance, error-prone and pretty depressing to be involved with in any significant way.
Furthermore, the fear in which everyone now operates at USAT is not healthy. Not for employees and not for the product. Few will speak up in order to right some wrongs because people want to stay off the radar screens of those who will punish anyone who doesn't have a smile on their face, even if that smile is forced. Yes, in one particular USAT department, being "positive" is more important than accountability. That is not my take. That comes right from the lips of the head of that department, a manager with disturbing intellectual inabilities. Covering up problems trumps identifying things that need fixing, according to this editor.
Quality control on several fronts has become a joke. While many people are doing their best, and some are still trying to take pride in their work, it's a toxic newspaper run into the ground by leaders who simply don't know how to lead, so the resort to trying to be friends with everyone, or lying, or worse. There has been too much lost. Too many betrayals. There simply is very little trust left at the nation's newspaper. Eventually, the nation will see the results of that in the product, if some haven't already.
I can't figure out who reallysaid this:
ReplyDeleteIt also neglects detail that "showes" how almost 40% of the Journal's Individually Paid circulation comes in the 25%-50% (i.e., heavy) discount category, where USAT doesn't even play.
But alot of that is probably students who are required to get WSJ. But USAT has the college programs where the papers just sit at the dorms. Which is better? Which accounts for more?
4/27/2009 4:36 PM."No, it doesn't "showe" anything of the sort. Perhaps you have some top-secret details you'd like to share to support your assertion? It also neglects detail that "showes" how almost 40% of the Journal's Individually Paid circulation comes in the 25%-50% (i.e., heavy) discount category, where USAT doesn't even play.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to slam your colleagues' hard work, at least get your shit straight.
------------------------------
Perhaps you could prove that 40% of WSJ sales are discounted at 25-50%?
And you assume that 4:12 is a USAT or other Gannett site employee. What? Not all of us who read and post here are or ever were employed by Gannett.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteUSAT cir figures. Can you say Fraud, can you say jail. Who know what tomorrow might bring?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIf over 50% of USAT circ is in hotels, and Marriott represents 30-40% of the hotels and discontinues delivery to every occupied room, how does that, compounded with a 10% drop in total hotel occupancy and the decline in newspaper sales add up to a 7% decline? A 10% drop in hotel occupancy with 50% of circ in hotels in itself would represent a 5% drop.
ReplyDeleteTotal US hotel occupancy 2009 YTD care of Smith Travel down 10.5% with major meeting markets like NY, San Francisco and Chicago down 16%, 13.4% and 14.8% respectively.
Keep in mind, the primary user of a national papers in hotels are business travelers and major meeting markets which have been hit hardest.
Now, how do you explain a 7% drop?
To 8:07:
ReplyDeleteDo you even have a clue what the press release was about? This just shows how far removed you are. You shouldn't even be posting on a blog about a newspaper company if you don't understand the fundamentals of a six-month ABC Publisher's Statement and an annual audit.
The latest ABC report covers the year ending March 31, 2009.
Man, there are some real dumb asses on here that like to run their mouths and try to create controversy, like all the ones saying the infomation is a lie. The proof is in the third party auditing process where numbers and payment have to be verified.
Don't get me started on all the "third party" sampling circulation the rest of the dailies have used for years. If you want to talk bogus circulation, there it is.
Give me a break people! You don't care about the truth, you just want to create bad news where none exists. That is Jim's legacy.
I work in USAT's circulation department; out in a market in the field. I can tell you with absolute confidence that there isn't any fraud in our numbers. There has never, and I mean never, been one bit of pressure to fudge a number to hit a target. We play clean.
ReplyDeleteYes, circulation figures are down. We raised the single copy price to $1. That is going to push single copy down. Yes, Marriott is changing their program with USA TODAY, but every guest that requests a USA TODAY will still get one according to Marriott.
Revenue is up on single copy with the price increase. Revenue is up on home delivery as we continue to grow the revenue per copy in this category. And, net revenue on the Marriott program will be up, even on less volume.
Net revenue for the circulation markets is up 24% year to date. Read that number again. You might be able to fake circulation numbers (we don't) but you can't fake net revenue. You actually have to grow revenues and reduce expenses. We're doing both.
Yes, it gets stressful sometimes. No, we don't like every decision that comes down the pike. But, things are far better on the circulation front than folks posting in these comments might think and the people slandering my department, my coworkers and myself with regard to fraudulent numbers are angry, mean spirited and uninformed.
You folks might remember that five years ago we sold USAT for $.50 per copy. Well five years later, we are still over 2 million a day and the cover price is $1. Yes the hotel copies are discounted, but not to the level so many folks here think. Our average rate across all types of circulation at USA TODAY is now at $.47 per copy. That is single copy, home delivery, hotels and everything. Real customers, lots of them, are paying real money for a product they value.
We might not return to the fat papers of several years ago. But, the recession will pass and advertising will rebound. In the mean time, the circulation group is grinding away doing our part to improve the bottom line. Many of us would like it if uniformed folks on this blog stopped taking uneducated pot shots while we're out busting a hump.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete8:33
ReplyDelete'Me thinks thou dost protest too much.'
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/id/2217014/
ReplyDelete8:50pm
ReplyDeleteMy comment is just over your head.
Perhaps, you've never read Hamlet.
A lot of dreck and USAT envy here. This is why people still pay for newspapers: They don't have time and patience to wade thru the noise and error of the crowd. To summarize:
ReplyDelete@ This is audited circulation.
@ USAT's press release is a fair comparison of ink-on-print copies.
@ For USAT, this reflects a 33% single-copy price increase and a travel recession.
@ That price increase is pulling in more revenue.
A few more points worth noting:
@ USAT's drop was about average, according to E&P's tally.
@ This is USAT's first real down ABC statement since its last price increase. Its circulation is about where it was a decade ago. Most regionals have lost a third or more since then.
@ Private media companies like Cox and Advance aren't immune -- Journal-Constitution, Star-Ledger, Oregonian, etc. are leading the charge down.
@ NYT is about to slip below 1M.
This could be a good time to sell USA Today, in spite of the economic downturn. If Hilton or Marriott won't buy it, maybe Motel 6 or Red Roof Inn will. Then Martin Mull could be named editor!
ReplyDeleteTo 8:34
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew who you are so I could shake your hand. And since all the "suits" are supposedly all in Virginia, you must be "just" a normal, hard worker.
Thank you for presenting the real truth of the matter. Like you, I am in a field circulation office and intimately understand what we are doing every day to make USAT as success.
To 10:37
Thank you as well for adding on even more specifics to the "rest of the story."
It is easy to notice everything wrong if that is all you are looking for. And when you are angry it becomes extremely difficult to acknowledge the things that are working well. USA TODAY, even with its blemishes, is quality that customers want and pay for. We will be there when the dust settles.