USAT | Audit by the numbers: 36 pages, 12 ads

I don't see USA Today in print very often because I do almost all my reading online. But I got a free copy of Tuesday's edition when I boarded an American Airlines flight, giving me a chance to revive a page and advertising audit I started in 2010, when the paper launched a major restructuring.

The Tuesday edition of a holiday week isn't the most representative. Still, my latest audit is of at least passing interest as Gannett's marquee brand struggles to regain traction.

The good news, I found, is that the paper is doing no worse than three years ago. On the other hand, with digital advertising growth slipping, the print edition's fortunes remain important as ever.

The audit
From Tuesday's edition, I counted pages and advertisements. I didn't include what appeared to be house ads. Here's what I found:

A section, 12 pages, three ads: General Motors (a two-page double truck), Progressive Insurance and Ross Simons. I didn't count a full-page Vegas.com that looks like a trade involving USAT's Experience Las Vegas portal.

Money, six pages, two ads: Sprint and Marketplace Today classified. Not counted: a full-page Empire State Relief ad because it looks like a public-service promotion.

Sports, 12 pages, two ads: Yamaha and Sprint. Not counted: Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, which looks like a giveaway by USA Today Sports. The near absence of ads in Sports is especially striking, given all the resources Corporate is pouring into the Sports Media Group.

Life, six pages, five ads: Penguin books, Marketplace Today (classifieds and small display), Kelly Rowland, Best Buy, and Wale Official.

The bottom line: Even if I counted all the giveaways as paid, the paper's ad count for the day would still be ominously low -- a finding that underscores the amount of work still ahead for Publisher Larry Kramer, now in his second year of another turnaround attempt.

Advertiser showcase
The Scrapping the Bottom of the Barrel Award for worst advertising goes to the Life section's Viamedic.com, which claims to sell drugs only available with a doctor's prescription. Included in the site's pricey Viagra (two 100-mg. tablets for $79, not including shipping) is a "free" doctor's evaluation.

Only last week, the FDA announced that it had shut down nearly 1,700 sites for selling counterfeit or substandard medication, or for selling drugs without appropriate safeguards, according to CNN. The most common scams advertised popular drugs such as Viagra.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's website features a list of approved online pharmacies, plus those to avoid. Viamedic doesn't appear on the list of approved ones, however.

USAT | Why Ellwood's got lots of work ahead

By my count, this morning's USA Today in print carried perhaps only 20 advertisements in its 32-page edition. Plus, there wasn't even a strip ad on the bottom of Page One. (How long's that been going on?)

Ellwood

Yesterday, Gannett's best-known brand announced that Detroit Media Partnership CEO Susie Ellwood had been named deputy publisher, in charge of day-to-day operations. She's reporting to her predecessor in Detroit, Dave Hunke, who's been USAT publisher since April 2009. He, in turn, was brought in to stanch bleeding ad sales and circulation.

Surely, Ellwood must already like some of her new co-workers. USAT's online story about her appointment comprises yesterday's press release, nearly word for word. (On the other hand, I couldn't find any coverage in my print edition.) But watch out, everyone: She's very focused and organized. Amid all the meet-and-greets yesterday, Ellwood made sure her LinkedIn profile got updated to reflect her new position. Here's this morning's front:

[Front page: Newseum]

Audit | USA Weekend magazine vs. Parade

[Today's issues: USAW's 20 pages vs. Parade's 28 pages]

Gannett's weekend newspaper supplement, USA Weekend, was folded into USA Today's Life Department editorial operations last year, after CEO Marcia Bullard's departure from the company.

In an earlier challenge, chief rival Parade had hired as publisher former USAT advertising chief Brett Wilson; that was in October 2009. Since then, Wilson has been promoted to group publisher over all Parade Publications operations. (Parade is owned by magazine giant Conde Nast.)

How the two magazines compare:

USA Weekend

• Circulation: 22.6 million
• Newspapers: more than 700

Parade

• Circulation: 32.2 million
• Newspapers: more than 510

Audit | USAT by the numbers: 40 pages, 47 ads

USA Today staffers gather in a meeting tomorrow for an update on the paper's outlook, after a decline in first-quarter ad revenue and a sharp drop in circulation. This is my seventh audit of USAT's page count and advertising. (All my audits.)

I'm struck by the fact that today's front page carries just two stories.

The audit
From this morning's edition, I counted pages and advertisements. I did not include what appeared to be house ads. I did, however, count even the smallest, classified-like display ads, indicated as a number inside parentheses (X). Here's what I found:

A section, 12 pages, 10 ads: Subway, Toyota, BP (!!!),  Profit on Performance, Rosetta Stone, Double Tree, Samsung, Allstate, 1-800-Hotels, Overtons.com

Money, eight pages, nine ads: Sprint, Westin, Garmin, Franchising Today (five), Amazon

Sports, 12 pages, eight ads: ESPN, McCormick & Schmick's, Lowe's, Advance Auto Parts, Bill's Bail Out Riches, Stihl, ProstaleXplus, Letters for Lyrics

Life, eight pages, 20 ads: Frontgate, Marketplace Today (one), Toshiba, Marketplace Today (17)

Audit | USAT by the numbers: 32 pages, 48 ads

Amid a debate over USA Today's profitability (did it really sell only $20 million in online ads last year?), I stopped by our local Starbucks at 5:30 PT this afternoon to buy the last copy of today's edition. And then I started my tally. (Previous audits.)

The audit
I counted pages and advertisements. I did not include what appeared to be house ads. I did, however, count even the smallest, classified-like display ads as individual paid spots; they're indicated as a number inside parentheses (x). Here's what I found:

A section, 10 pages, four ads: FedEx, JPMorgan Chase, BP, Wells Fargo.

Money, six pages, 19 ads: Sprint, ETrade, Daily Getaways, Legal Monday (4), Business Monday (11), Sheraton.

Sports, 10 pages, two ads: ESPN, D&B.

Life, six pages, 23 ads: Daily Spotlight, Progressive, Shop for Gifts Today (11), Marketplace Today (10).

[Image: Newseum]

Audit | USAT by the numbers: 36 pages, 94 ads*

First-quarter advertising revenue fell 11% at Gannett's biggest daily, and circulation dived 13.6% at March 31 from a year before -- further pinching efforts to ramp up ad sales. This is my fifth audit of USA Today's page count and advertising; previous audits.

Newsstand: my local Starbucks. Time: today, noon PT. What I found: just two USA Todays, but plenty of editions of The New York Times. Notes: Friday is the paper's No. 1 weekly sale day, because entertainment news gives the edition longer weekend shelf life.

The audit
I counted pages and advertisements. I did not include what appeared to be house ads. I did, however, count even the smallest, classified-like display ads. *There were 94 ads -- but that includes 63 itty-bitty classifieds in the Life section, including my favorite: mail-order coffin retailer Casket Royale (more, below). Here's what I found:

A section, eight pages, four ads: Bahamas, Solon, AfterBite, Michelin.

Sports, 10 pages, six ads: ABC, Skechers, NBC, Golf Today (three).

Money, eight pages, seven ads: Sprint, Briggs & Stratton, Life Quotes, World Reserve Monetary Exchange, Bills Bailout Riches, ABC News 10 (in San Francisco area edition), ProMover.

Life, 10 pages, 77 ads: Daily Spotlight, Macy's, Starbucks, Travel Today (four), Real Estate Marketplace (five), Marketplace Today (63), Garmin, Worldwide Auction.

Advertiser showcase
Among the paper's advertisers, Casket Royale sells coffins by mail, starting at $695. Here's the lovely Devon II in 18-gauge metal, light blue, crepe interior, gasketed (!); $895, plus delivery/shipping:

[Images: Newseum, Casket Royale]

Audit | USAT by the numbers: 28 pages, 25 ads

First-quarter ad revenue fell 11% at Gannett's biggest daily, and circulation dived 13.6% at March 31 from a year before -- further pinching efforts to ramp up sales. This is my fourth audit of USA Today's page count and advertising; the first three are here, here, and here.

Encouraged by several apparently alarmed Gannett Blog readers this morning, I headed over to my local Starbucks at 10:15 a.m. PT, where I found just two copies of USA Today below a generous stack of today's edition of The New York Times. (USAT has been sold at 6,500 U.S. Starbucks since March 15.)

What I found (details, below) was a USAT that was especially thin in page count, and in paid advertisements. Not counting small classified-size ads individually, the entire paper had only 14 paid spots. Just as alarming, the eight-page main A section in the nation's No. 1 print newspaper had but two ads.

Let me repeat: Only. Two. Ads.

The audit
I counted pages and advertisements. I did not include what appeared to be house ads. I did, however, count even the smallest, classified-like display ads as individual paid spots. Here's what I found:

A section, eight pages, two ads: Hotels.com, La Quinta.

Money, six pages, 16 ads: Sprint, Wells Fargo, Auction Showcase (2), Highland Springs Ranch, Marketplace Today (11).

Sports, eight pages, one ad: ESPN.

Life, six pages, six ads: Daily Spotlight, Twelve Books, Marketplace Today (1), Ryan Seacrest, Air Supply Music, Universal Music.

[Image: Newseum]

Audit | USAT by the numbers: 36 pages, 45 ads

First-quarter advertising revenue fell 11% at Gannett's biggest daily, and circulation dived 13.6% at March 31 from a year before -- further pinching efforts to ramp up ad sales. This is my third audit of USA Today's page count and advertising; the first two are here and here.

Stopping once more by my local Starbucks, at 1:15 p.m. PT today, I found one copy of USA Today hidden under two copies of yesterday's edition. USAT has been sold at 6,500 U.S. Starbucks since March 15.

The audit
I counted pages and advertisements. I did not include what appeared to be house ads. I did, however, count even the smallest, classified-like display ads. Here's what I found:

A section, 10 pages, seven ads: Subway, Carved Creations, Amtrak, Subway, Mercedes-Benz, ProFlowers, Global Travel & Tourism Summit.

Money, eight pages, eight ads: Sprint, JP Morgan Chase, Franchising Today (5 small ads), Amazon Kindle.

Life, 10 pages, 28 ads: 1-800 FLOWERS, McCormick & Schmicks, How to Make Millions, Credit Card Relief, American Tax Relief, Heritage for the Blind, Bose, Supercuts, US Oncology, Pella, Marketplace Today (18 small ads).

Sports, eight pages, two ads: ESPN, Progressive.

[Image: Newseum]

Audit | USAT by the numbers: 36 pages, 36 ads

Circulation at Gannett's biggest daily plunged 13.6% during the six months ended March 31, further pinching efforts to ramp up advertising sales. This is my second audit of USA Today's page count and advertising; the first one's here.

Stopping by my local Starbucks at 2 p.m. today, I found two copies of USA Today on the bottom shelf of an otherwise empty rack, set aside for New York Times sales. USAT has been available at 6,500 U.S. Starbucks stores since March 15.

The clerk asked, "Is that all?" Then, he looked at his cash register, perplexed. "This is my first USA Today,'' he said. "I'm a virgin."

The audit
I counted pages and advertisements. I did not include what appeared to be house ads (and there were more than a few). I did, however, count even the smallest, classified-like display ads. I do not know whether today's edition is representative of a typical paper. Here's what I found:

A section, 10 pages, seven ads: Hotels.com, Quattron, Homewood Suites, Heritage for the Blind, Mercedes-Benz, United of Omaha Life Insurance, and getaroom.com.

Money, eight pages, 10 ads: Sprint, Wells Fargo, Auction Showcase (three small ads), Real Estate Marketplace (two small ads), Highland Springs Ranch, World Reserve Monetary Exchange, and news10.net.

Sports, 10 pages, one ad: ESPN.

Life, eight pages, 18 ads: Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp, Scribner/Simon and Schuster, Bantam/Random House, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Project Sunshine, Mira, Marketplace Today (11 small ads).

Audit | USAT by the numbers: 32 pages, 35 ads

Taking up a challenge laid down by Anonymous@9:33 a.m., I bought a copy of the nation's top-selling print newspaper this morning, here in San Francisco. Next, I counted pages and advertisements. I did not include what appeared to be house ads. I did, however, count even the smallest, classified-like display ads. I do not know whether today's edition is representative of a typical paper. Here's what I found:

A section, 10 pages, seven ads: Subway, Honda, Odwalla, Mercedes-Benz, Cornell University, Zurich SEC Settlement, Norwegian cruises.

Money, six pages, eight ads: Sprint, Frontgate, Franchising Today Marketplace (five small ads), OPC Factor energy supplement.

Sports, 10 pages, four ads: ESPN, Hooters, Briggs & Stratton, Verizon/NFL.

Life, six pages, 16 ads: Marketplace Today (16 small ads, such as for order-by-mail Viagra).

Related: USAT's current advertising rates

Does anyone have access to the April 21, 2009, paper? I'd like to see a similar page and ad count. Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]