Newspaper down 8.4 percent on Sundays
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but newspapers are losing print readers by the tens of thousands. In this morning’s report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, publications across the country reported double-digit declines.
The report measures circulation from daily newspapers, comparing April through September 2009 with the same period in 2008.
Media of Birmingham has learned that the Birmingham News dropped 10.8 percent in weekday circulation, from about 131,095 copies to 116,937 copies. This was slightly worse than the national average of 10.6 percent lost.
On Sundays, the News dropped 8.4 percent, from about 163,803 copies to 150,044 copies. The national average was 7.4 percent.
The News’ publisher Victor Hanson III retires in just over a month; layoffs could come as soon as February.
Meanwhile, the Mobile Press-Register defied the odds, gaining 0.75 percent in overall circulation in the same period from 2008 to 2009. The boost, from about 92,158 to 92,849, placed the newspaper in the Top 10 circulation gainers.
More good news comes from the online side.
When combining print and online readership from the past 7 and 30 days respectively, the Birmingham News and the Mobile Press-Register landed in the Top 25 gainers. The News showed a 4.48 percent jump, and the Press-Register increased 6.13 percent, compared to the same period in 2008.
Advance Publications owns both newspapers.
Our special thanks to Jennifer Saba at Editor and Publisher. Read her blog Fitz & Jen or follow her on Twitter at @jennifersaba.
• • •
Read more Birmingham media updates.
Have a news tip? Let us know!
Media of Birmingham 
How can any one be surprised about this? The quality of editorial content is at a low. The paper’s idea of beefing up their content is adding pages of pictures called Faces. If it wasn’t for John Archibald’s column I would have cancelled my subscription long ago.
Maybe they should find out what Mobile’s doing right.
Pingback: EXCLUSIVE: Birmingham News offers buyouts to employees across the board « Media of Birmingham