Tuesday, April 19, 2011

USAT | Memo: Circ rises for first time in two years

USA Today's circulation rose by 2,477 copies (yes, that's the correct figure) to 1.83 million daily during the six months ended March 30 -- mostly because of higher sales of digital editions to schools, according to a memo to staff cited by the Associated Press.

"But it is an encouraging sign for Gannett's flagship newspaper,'' the AP says. "Reversing circulation and revenue declines were goals that Publisher Dave Hunke set in his bid to revive the nation's second-largest newspaper."

Still, circulation remains down 20% from 2.28 million in the same period four years ago.

Earlier: Why you should care about the tail that wags the dog.

27 comments:

  1. This is good news and a good sign that Rudd Davis is reversing the circulation decline with the Gannett flagship. Someone is finally paying attention to the NEWSPAPER!

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  2. Brad Jones and his team are behind this turnaround. congrats Circ team!

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  3. It would have been a lot more if it wasn't for all the NE blizzards in Jan and Feb!

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  4. It's just recounting numbers differently, there is no real increase. In 2009 the Arizona Republic said they had net Sunday increases but in actuality all they were basing it on was a projected trend over a 90 day time frame at the end of the year it was a negative. It's no different with USA Today, you can make the data look anyway you want at any given time.

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  5. Sorry 6:47 you will have to take your hater attitude someplace else. The numbers are real.

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  6. Sorry 6:47 you will have to take your hater attitude someplace else. The numbers are real.
    4/19/2011 6:54 PM

    6:47 PM is correct the numbers are all counted differently now, it's comparing apples to oranges not apples to apples; and the reason they are counted differently is to artificially increase circ numbers for all newspapers.

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  7. Ya, the way numbers are counted now are completely different, digital copies, discounted copies are all allowed to be counted now into circulation. That used to NEVER be the case, if you went back in time and used the same accounting methods that are allowed today, the circ figures in the past would be crazy. Everyone at Gannett knows this and at other newspapers too, and since it is allowed they certainly aren't going to talk about it or bring it to anyones attention, but the bottom line is that actual circulation is down not up.

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  8. You clowns crack me up. When circ was down we didn't hear squat from you. Now that it's up you just can't stand it. These are your peeps Jim. The truth never gets in the way with these haters

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  9. 7:18 Geez, this has all been detailed in changes announced by the ABC, and yes it has allowed for more generous counting of circulation. Advertisers are aware of this, so we are not fooling anyone except ourselves if we take the increased number seriously.

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  10. Here, look at the changes ABC imposed, and note they were to take effect with the Sept. 2010 and March 11 reports:
    http://www.accessabc.com/resources/revisionssummary.htm
    Betch there has been very creative use of the classrooom and university provisions.

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  11. Those ABC rules were changed largely to benefit USA Today, so suprise, surprise, USAT's circulation increases.

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  12. IMHO, AP should have noted the change in ABC reporting in that brief story.

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  13. Please - I used to work at a Gannett paper where school copies were almost 15% of the circ numbers, until ABC cut those out as paid. Then the online edition,only, was being counted and a lot of papers were in the crapper. Doesn't surprize me that ABC changed the rules again and papers would figure out how to take advantage of it.

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  14. It's certainly good that USAT isn't reporting more circulation losses.

    That said, if the best the paper can gin up is an additional 2,477 in circulation, under new rules meant to favor publishers -- well, that tells me how truly bad things really are.

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  15. As a former circulation director I can tell you that a newspaper the size of USAT has an average daily circulation sales flux of at least 5% (a late truck, some bad coin mechs or a rainy day in Chicago can make cause a 2,500 daily variance. Just tightening your delivery ops or a little circulation slight of hand can give you that sort of average gain at a paper of that size fairly easily. Heck I bet more than that many USATs fall off delivery trucks everyday. I wish them all the best but let's reserve judgement for one quarter does not a turn around make. We 'll talk again at the end of the year.

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  16. Amazing how fast things change in this business. Note the ABC changes eased reporting for hotel and university deliveries, but since then universities have cut back on journalism programs, the University of Colorado is closing its j-school, and hotels are rejecting the hotel delivery scheme. A couple of weeks ago, My Boss reported another hotel chain was joining Marriott in opposing this program, but I haven't heard anything more on this.

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  17. Hunks, you need to cut the fat from the paper. Start in the newsroom.

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  18. The telling figures will be in MRI's fall and, because of the way the numbers are calculated, Spring 2012 releases. If these additional copies are actually being read, you'll see an uptick in audience -- although, for such a small circ increase, readership may not show any correlated movement. If this is just orphaned distribution -- circulation going unread -- then USAT's audience will either remain stagnant or continue its downward slide of the past several years.

    In either case, kudos to the circ sales folks out there making lemonade. It can't be an easy sell.

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  19. The circulation increase is of academic interest to those of us who labor in the Gannett provinces,and it's better news than a continued circ. decline would be.
    Wouldn't it be nice, though, if USAT were a good newspaper? That's something they've never tried.

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  20. "because of higher sales of digital editions to schools" - that's Diane Barrett's work. She pushed for digital editions to schools before Rudd Davis was born!

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  21. school circulation is fine, but i dont know many third graders who are buying new cars or or looking for a stock broker. orhan cirulation is an interesting and accurate term for this type of cicrulation but most ad profesionals just refer to it as "junk circ." up to now the only thing that has held newspapers from dumping huge stacks of newpapers in schools was the cost (newsprint and delivery), but now that they can pad circ numbers digitally every kid in america will have a newspaper they dont want or will ever see.

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  22. I bought a bunch of copies of USAT the other day. My last day at Gannett is coming up, and I needed newspaper to wrap my dishes for the move to my new job.

    Glad I could help a little!

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  23. Hunkers bonus is tied to any increase, no matter how small.

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  24. 11:37 don't forget to tell us you are making double the salary at the company without a name!

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  25. never said I was making double anything. although, if you knew how little some of us were paid here in the tiny little GCI alcove of Southeastern VA...you would understand that double of nothing is still nearly nothing.

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  26. "Hunkers bonus is tied to any increase, no matter how small."

    Ha. That would explain the unusual typography in the memo: the number in big bold type followed by multiple exclamation points.

    Could someone be seeing $$$$$!!!????

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  27. We're all jazzed about a 2500 increase. It's a far cry from the 10% Brad Jones promised at Hunke's VP intro months ago. But, these days up is up I guess.

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