The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News reported declining newspaper circulation for the six months ending in September, reflecting a national trend of newspaper readers moving to online editions.
The Post and News each saw an 11.9 percent drop in paid circulation for their Monday- through-Friday papers, with The Post reporting 225,390 paid sales and the News 225,226, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The Sunday Post fell from 694,053 to 600,229, a decline of 13.5 percent. The Saturday News dropped 11.2 percent from 552,567 to 490,741.
Business functions of The Post and the News, including circulation and advertising, are managed jointly by the Denver Newspaper Agency. The newsrooms remain separate and competitive.
DNA officials said the majority of the circulation decline stemmed from cutting back on hotel copies and advertiser- paid editions delivered to nonsubscribers.
Despite declining newspaper circulation, the agency reported that the “total brand audience” for the two papers – the combination of weekly print readers and monthly unique Web visitors – was 7.2 million, a 32.4 percent increase from the same period in 2002.
For the first time, the Audit Bureau of Circulations this year is combining Internet readership with print circulation to create a metric called “net combined audience” to show advertisers, investors and the general public that the reach of newspapers extends beyond print editions.
“The way in which our customers choose to receive their news and advertising information is shifting,” said Harry Whipple, president and chief executive of the DNA.
DNA officials said they could not compare their analysis of the two Denver papers’ total audience ranking with other newspapers in the nation because of variations in the way Web visitors are counted. The DNA calculation includes visitors to and to automotive and real-estate advertising sites.
The DNA’s analysis of national circulation reports shows that the two Denver dailies are among national leaders in paid circulation and household penetration, a measure of the percentage of homes in a metro area that receive newspapers.
The Sunday Post ranked No. 1 nationally in household penetration, with 46.1 percent, and No. 9 in circulation, according to the DNA.
The combined weekday penetration of The Post and the News was 36.1 percent, ranking second nationally behind Long Island Newsday’s 37 percent. Combined weekday circulation ranked No. 10, marking the 13th consecutive reporting period in which the Denver dailies were in the top 10.
All but four of the nation’s 25 largest newspapers reported weekday circulation declines. USA Today, the largest paper, reported a 1 percent rise to 2.29 million. The Wall Street Journal, the second-largest, fell 1.5 percent.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
