Readership Institute: Getting Traction on Readership: Indications of Success

Question: What is the most persuasive indication you have that your readership efforts are producing results?

Aiken Standard (SC)
Daily Circulation: 13,364
Sunday Circulation: 14,066

Circulation has increased over last year, and people are constantly reminding us how much they enjoy some of our features.

Akron Legal News (OH)
Daily Circulation: 700

Our subscriptions have increased, and our display advertising has been more effective.

Altus Times (OK)
Daily Circulation: 4,749
Sunday Circulation: 4,749

Readers are starting to notice some of things we are doing in the area of content and service.

Anchorage Daily News (AK)
Daily Circulation: 69,607
Sunday Circulation: 85,944

There is no unambiguous indication. Our readership survey results show high readership, both in terms of penetration and the amount of time people spend with the paper. Our total RBS is 4.18, which is higher than the overall national average and the average for newspapers our size.

Anderson Independent-Mail (SC)
Daily Circulation: 38,576
Sunday Circulation: 44,194

We experienced an immediate increase in net paid circulation following the launch of the Local News section.
Our readership scores in periodic corporate studies have increased.

Atlanta Journal Constitution (GA)
Daily Circulation: 460,672
Sunday Circulation: 620,782

Our readership, in absolute numbers, is increasing. We have a growing market and the number of people reading the AJC is rising.

Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Daily Circulation: 183,288
Sunday Circulation: 233,608

Producing a certain kind of local news (as the Readership Institute Survey suggested) showed results. "Chasing Hope," published in print in May, 2002 is still published on our online site where it has received more than five million views. Mothers Against Drunk Driving contracted with us to print 400,000 additional copies for distribution to students.

As we have dedicated more resources to our online efforts, Statesman.com, and made a daily commitment to promoting it from every day's newspaper in a thoughtful way, we have seen dramatic increases in readership.

The Bakersfield Californian (CA)
Daily Circulation: 71,495
Sunday Circulation: 82,718

Changes in culture, changes in news product, the tone of conversations. Our RBS score has remained stable but we are confidant it will increase.

The Baytown Sun (TX)
Daily Circulation: 11,545
Sunday Circulation: 11,265

Tangible: Increased circulation and ad inches. Intangible: more good will and improved reputation within the community.

Beaver County Times (Beaver, PA)
Daily Circulation: 42,778
Sunday Circulation: 48,875

We have none, other than random feedback.

Brattleboro Reformer (VT)
Daily Circulation: 11,655

Very active letters to the Editor. We receive more letters than we can publish monthly. We've expanded our letters page to two pages for controversial events.

Bucks County Courier Times (Levittown, PA)
Daily Circulation: 67,094
Sunday Circulation: 73,252

RBS score will tell us this.

The Buffalo News (NY)
Daily Circulation: 223,957
Sunday Circulation: 306,102

Unable to answer at this time. Our benchmark RBS was conducted in February 2003 and will be repeated annually. That is the measure we will use.

Burlington Free Press (VT)
Daily Circulation: 50,203
Sunday Circulation: 60,264

Our readership as measured in our ABC audited readership studies has increased steadily since 1994. As of our 2001 study daily readership has increased 17% to 112,300 since 1994 and Sunday readership has increased 5% to 122,400 over the same time period. We also have been successful in reaching a larger audience through BurlingtonFreePress.com, our daily news Web site. Since launching in August of 2000, we currently register 1.6 million monthly page views and 106,000 monthly unique visitors. Finally, measurable service gains indicate that we are not only growing readers, but also increasing the likelihood that current readers will remain so. Home delivery complaints per thousand deliveries have fallen from 2.4 daily in January 2001 to 0.9 currently. Sunday complaints per thousand have fallen from 4.2 to 1.7 over the same period.

The Capital (Annapolis, MD)
Daily Circulation: 45,538
Sunday Circulation: 48,730

So far, it's verbal feedback only. We hear a lot of good things, but we aren't seeing the numbers rise - yet.

Cleburne Times-Review (TX)
Daily Circulation: 7,447
Sunday Circulation: 7,447

We have received numerous phone calls and messages from individuals and businesses throughout the county wanting the Times-Review to expand its coverage into his/her/its respective area. Positive comments, such as The Times-Review looks like a real newspaper now, have inspired some former subscribers to subscribe once again.

Clinton Herald (IA)
Daily Circulation: 12,254

Circulation appears to be making a climb upward, although new marketing techniques and service could be driving that up. Readers tell us the newspaper has improved.

Corsicana Daily Sun (TX)
Daily Circulation: 7,079
Sunday Circulation: 7,079

Positive feedback from readers.

The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Daily Circulation: 217,396
Sunday Circulation: 282,072

We get regular feedback from readers about the Health & Fitness section and the Business section. Readers always mention the local nature of the sections.

Craig Daily Press (CO)
Daily Circulation: 2,817

Increased circulation.

The Crescent-News (Defiance, OH)
Daily Circulation: 17,615
Sunday Circulation: 18,524

Increased circulation.

Crossville Chronicle (TN)
Circulation: Three issues weekly: Tues: 19,000; Wed: 8,500; Fri: 8,500

Despite a very sour economy, rack sales are consistent and show increases for some issues; circulation is growing even though we are a retirement community with the oldest average age per capita in the state. Folks die at record rates but we are either maintaining, or growing in circulation. Also, our classifieds, a good indicator of readership, continue their healthy upward trend. We also won first place in the state for best layout and makeup - first time ever for this award, which means not only do we see the changes, our readers do as well.

Cullman Times (AL)
Daily Circulation: 10,827
Sunday Circulation: 11,378

Reader reaction to the profiles and, it appears, more attention to our content since we get more feedback on the good and bad they think we do.

Cumberland Times-News (MD)
Daily Circulation: 30,555
Sunday Circulation: 32,836

The feedback we get from our reader advisory board and from the public in general. We are getting more positive feedback because of the changes we have made. Our circulation has shown a slight increase over the last year, even though our population is on the downturn.

Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA)
Daily Circulation: 73,209
Sunday Circulation: 71,492

Response from the community leaders in the many communities we serve. How they compare us now to two years ago.

Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
Daily Circulation: 33,021
Sunday Circulation: 40,834

Too soon to tell. But I'm relentlessly optimistic.

The Daily Courier (Forest City, NC)
Daily Circulation: 9,504
Sunday Circulation: 9,504

In a county that has lost 5,000 textile and furniture jobs in the last five years and during a time subscription costs doubled (to $9 a month from $4), we have maintained our circulation at 9,700.

Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA)
Daily Circulation: 18,445

Circulation figures appear to be falling at a slightly reduced rate.

The Daily News (Longview, WA)
Daily Circulation: 22,350
Sunday Circulation: 21,704

While circulation is only up slightly, there is more of a buzz in the community about our paper... the local stories we publish... our involvement.

The Daily News (Rhinelander, WI)
Daily Circulation: 5,033
Sunday Circulation: 5,557

The five-year circulation downturn has been stopped. Circulation is now slowly increasing.

Daily Press (Newport News-Hampton, VA)
Daily Circulation: 92,434
Sunday Circulation: 115,985

Our readership, according to Belden Associates market research, has remained steady for the past two years.
Our circulation has remained steady or gained slightly in the past two years.

Home delivery complaints-per-thousand metric has been declining. In some districts, complaints are down by as much as 40%.

The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA)
Daily Circulation: 30,281
Sunday Circulation: 34,234

Home delivery up consistently since redesign's execution in January 2003.

Daily Sentinel (Rome, NY)
Daily Circulation: 14,810

Anecdotal comments from readers showing greater satisfaction.

The Daily Times (Farmington, NM)
Daily Circulation: 17,738
Sunday Circulation: 19,328

We believe we are increasing readership because of a marked increase in letters to the editor, growing advertising revenue and a 10 percent increase in newsstand sales. I particularly attribute the jump in newsstand sales to the extra entry points on page one and page one rail teasers, large headlines and large photographs. Also, our Web site hits are up every month, meaning more and more people are reading either online or our regular newspaper.

Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)
Daily Circulation: 100,582
Sunday Circulation: 117,854

We have not surveyed any changes made from Phase 1, however our editorial study conducted in March, 2003 reflected significant readership increased based on our redesign efforts in October, 2001, plus content improvements made in 2002.

Deming Headlight (NM)
Daily Circulation: 3,541

Phone calls. Many have said it's easier to read the Headlight.

The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA)
Daily Circulation: 46,497
Sunday Circulation: 49,171

We have measured readership three times over the past four years through an independent market study. Daily and seven-day reach in each survey were as follows:

	Daily	Seven-Day
1999	115,959	150,516
2002	121,472	175,200
2003	136,090	181,454

The Detroit News and Free Press (MI)
Daily Circulation: 547,506
Sunday Circulation: 738,709

According to research by Scarborough and company, daily readership in the Detroit DMA has increased as follows:
Spring 1999: 1,158,400; Spring 2003: 1,263,700
(An increase of 105,300 – or 9%)

Sunday readership has also increased during the same time:
Spring 1999: 1,743,300; Spring 2003: 1,769,300
(An increase of 26,000 – or 1.5%)

These increases have come at a time when other markets have seen declines.

East Valley Tribune (Mesa-Scottsdale-Tempe, AZ)
Daily Circulation: 96,221
Sunday Circulation: 80,192

Latest Scarborough readership numbers show an annual readership growth of 18 percent in 2002 and our circulation has grown 3 percent. Meanwhile, our competition has declined in both readership and circulation.

The Edmond Sun (OK)
Daily Circulation: 10,415
Sunday Circulation: 10,415

Our Letter to the Editor and Readers Speak submissions have increased dramatically.

Enterprise-Journal (McComb, MS)
Daily Circulation: 11,492
Sunday Circulation: 12,083

People continue to comment that they like the new look of the paper and also the stories in it. Our circulation is up a little bit, but not where I want it to be.

Evansville Courier & Press (IN)
Daily Circulation: 68,867
Sunday Circulation: 96,506

High penetration in zips that were targeted for content and service.

Gainesville Daily Register (TX)
Daily Circulation: 5,814
Sunday Circulation: 5,814

Saving some stops by calling back.

The Gleaner (Henderson, KY)
Daily Circulation: 10,452
Sunday Circulation: 11,837

Churn is down this year.

Total paid numbers are up slightly this year after being down the past two years.

Hannibal Courier-Post (MO)
Daily Circulation: 8,350

Circulation has stabilized, especially home delivery, and is growing again. Also, we receive many comments from people that we are doing a better job than in the past.

Herald-Banner (Greenville, TX)
Daily Circulation: 8,239
Sunday Circulation: 9,224

Daily circulation is up 10% over our last audit period. Ad revenues are up 21% YTD. (I listed ad revenues because is shows how much additional "content", in the form of advertising, we're giving our readers, and it represents the renewed confidence advertisers have in our newspaper, and advertisers know if their ad is read.)

The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC)
Daily Circulation: 50,015
Sunday Circulation: 56,612

News: Contract with readers via calls, e-mails, letters to Steamed.

Circulation: ABC audit gains in 2 of last 4 years.

The Houston Chronicle (TX)
Daily Circulation: 552,052
Sunday Circulation: 744,935

Our initial RBS tracking in the Houston market via surveys has not moved the readership needle yet but we're in the early stages of perfecting such measurements. We did, however, increase our long term subscription orders (6 and 12 months) significantly year over year i.e. over 8,000 more long-term orders 1st 6 months '03 vs. '02.

Johnson City Press (TN)
Daily Circulation: 29,909
Sunday Circulation: 34,152

The community continues to comment favorably about the changes we've made. Our culture of more local news has definitely made a huge impact. Our local story count is over 400% more than a year ago and the community likes that very much. Single copy sales have begun to climb as well.

The Journal Times (Racine, WI)
Daily Circulation: 29,216
Sunday Circulation: 31,334

The Journal Times has registered above the averages in RBS measurements for the industry and for newspapers in our circulation range. During our period of significant brand-building activities and service improvements, the newspaper reversed nearly a decade's decline in circulation.

Kerrville Daily Times (TX)
Daily Circulation: 8,663
Sunday Circulation: 10,463

Circulation is increasing slightly.

Knoxville News Sentinel (TN)
Daily Circulation: 128,865
Sunday Circulation: 153,718

We met with a focus group from the community to discuss our news coverage of minority issues. This diverse group said we have improved over the past two years, although they said we must continue to improve. But it was a lesson in how efforts can pay off. Sometimes we get discouraged.

We have achieved our net paid goals for the last six months.

Readership numbers have increased.

Lancaster New Era (PA)
Daily Circulation: 43,194
Sunday Circulation: 102,339

Improving subscription sales (although a good part of that is due to stronger sales efforts, more aggressively marketing the Easy Pay and the introduction of monthly Easy Pay.)

Single copy sales are still lagging.

Lincoln Journal Star (NE)
Daily Circulation: 74,586
Sunday Circulation: 83,387

Circulation has been up.

The Manhattan Mercury (KS)
Daily Circulation: 10,125
Sunday Circulation: 11,450

Circulation is up this year after sliding for many years.

McAlester News-Capital & Democrat (OK)
Daily Circulation: 10,053
Sunday Circulation: 10,515

Good comments from readers.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Daily Circulation: 232,652
Sunday Circulation: 434,023

We are proud that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel continues to outperform the industry as well as the large circulation newspaper group in RBS.

Monroe Evening News (MI)
Daily Circulation: 21,771
Sunday Circulation: 24,956

The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the weekly - word of mouth, surveys, focus groups

Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
Daily Circulation: 50,763
Sunday Circulation: 62,137

We will have a market study in fall of 2003 that will give us our best indication. Unfortunately, circulation has decreased partly affected by home delivery price increases. Pass-along is high in this market. The study will reveal any progress with efforts to reach niche audiences with over-distribution of products targeted with Health and Fitness and our entertainment section GO!. The online audience has been steadily growing based upon our Site Catalyst figures.

Our last study in 2001 was prior to most of the changes. We did make change to our GO! section, and it indicated we made progress with our entertainment section, increasing readership from 57% to 77% of those 18-34 reading the Thursday newspaper.

New Haven Register (CT)
Daily Circulation: 81,469
Sunday Circulation: 101,374

As far as weekend - lots of positive feedback in the community to the change

The Newport Daily News (RI)
Daily Circulation: 12,565

Our N.I.E. program is now fully funded.

We are in an area that is losing population and we seem to have slowed our circulation losses.

News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
Daily Circulation: 90,432
Sunday Circulation: 110,846

The Scarborough Research numbers tell me it is so, and we hear more talk on the street, particularly in our competitive markets.

The News Enterprise (Elizabethtown, KY)
Daily Circulation: 16,073
Sunday Circulation: 19,483

Our recent readership survey returned an overall RBS score of 4.41 which is above the national 3.24 average of all circulation sizes and the 3.02 average for the 10,000 - 25,000 circulation group.

The Norman Transcript ( OK)
Daily Circulation: 15,198
Sunday Circulation: 16,695

I see and hear people discussing items related to readership and service. Those discussions, at least among staff, never used to happen before.

North County Times (Escondido-Oceanside, CA)
Daily Circulation: 92,490
Sunday Circulation: 93,337

Extraordinarily high readership PER COPY SOLD: 34 minutes daily, 1 hour, 17 minutes on Sundays. Under Readership Institute methodology, only one reader per household is counted, so these figures are understated.

Rising percentage of women readers.

Norwich Bulletin (CT)
Daily Circulation: 27,916
Sunday Circulation: 32,304

A carrier crisis that began in 1999 severely affected circulation (a 15% drop from 1998 to 2002) and readership (12 to 24 point losses in yesterday readership (total and by demo) over the same period). All of the newspaper efforts combined - news, circulation, marketing, production, advertising and others, have helped us halt the declines and increase daily home delivery in our NDM by 9%, and Sunday 7%, year-over-year. Even more impressive to us, is that we accomplished this at a time when a competing newspaper was dumping very big dollars into our market in staffing, sales pressure and promotion. Their gains in our market have been negligible (1 daily copy).

There's an editorial component to this: Locally focused special reports, produced on a breaking-news basis, have caused circulation spikes as high as 1,100 single-copy sales. They ranged from local reaction to Columbia explosion and nightclub fire in Warwick, R.I., (where local people died), to a full-court press on President Bush's graduation address at nearby Coast Guard Academy. The intense local focus, per RI guidelines, is designed to increase readership.

Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY)
Daily Circulation: 45,916
Sunday Circulation: 53,629

After years of declines, our Daily circulation volumes are up!

The Olathe News (KS)
Daily Circulation: 5,789

Circulation is up, and we're hearing more positive things around the community than ever.

The Olympian (Olympia, WA)
Daily Circulation: 37,473
Sunday Circulation: 45,336

We have nothing but anecdotal evidence. We plan to conduct a major research effort this fall.

Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Daily Circulation: 256,520
Sunday Circulation: 376,878

Specific audience segments that have been targeted by our readership actions are showing increases in readership.

Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, IN)
Daily Circulation: 10,112
Sunday Circulation: 10,806

All departments at the Pharos-Tribune are working together toward one common goal – and that is to increase or raise our Readership Behavior Score. It is a concept that is simple to understand, make sense for all departments and has given us a common goal to achieve.

Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
Daily Circulation: 101,288
Sunday Circulation: 113,999

Reader Behavior Score 4.33.

Readership improved by 4.3% over two years.

Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger (VA)
Daily Circulation: 20,983
Sunday Circulation: 20,472

The fact that one of our two dailies is currently the fastest growing daily in the country. Also, reader feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Poughkeepsie Journal (NY)
Daily Circulation: 39,984
Sunday Circulation: 51,067

One of the best indicators is our circulation volume. Volumes are trending above last year and through the first six months of the year, daily volume is nearly 1% higher than last year. More importantly, our base of readers is growing as indicated in our home delivery volume which is above last year by 2.8% daily and 5% on Sunday through June. We are receiving significantly more hits on our Web site from regional visitors. Cross-promotion we do on the Web seems to help sell the print product.

Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Daily Circulation: 34,706
Sunday Circulation: 39,863

Well, we know we get thousands of entries from the trip giveaway contests!

We know that our best sales come from our consumer crews (door-to-door).

We know that the EZ pay program keeps people subscribing longer.

Circulation has been going up this year. We should show some growth or at least stay steady. We don't expect to lose circulation.

The Reporter (Vacaville, CA)
Daily Circulation: 17,575
Sunday Circulation: 19,143

We've invited our readers to share their thoughts with us on what we're doing right and what we need to improve. So far, the feedback has been very valuable. It's too early to look at circulation numbers for validation because our "game" started in June.

Richmond Register (KY)
Daily Circulation: 7,288
Sunday Circulation: 7,704

People call to let us know when we are doing things well and we have been receiving more of these type calls on a daily basis.

Rack sales have also been increasing steadily, which indicates we are reaching people not being reached previously.

Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Daily Circulation: 187,409
Sunday Circulation: 228,262

RBS moved from 3.71 measured by Impact study of Richmond respondents, to 3.89 in February 2002, and to 3.96 in February 2003.

The Roanoke Times (VA)
Daily Circulation: 100,160
Sunday Circulation: 112,397

Ranked #1 in the nation for adult readership of a daily newspaper (of the top 75 MSA markets) 2002 Scarborough Report, Release 1.

Ranked #2 in the nation for adult readership of a Sunday newspaper (of the top 75 MSA markets) 2002 Scarborough Report, Release 1.

Ranked within the top 10 newspapers, out of the 100 included in the study, in terms of readership satisfaction of articles pertaining to Home and Ordinary People, 2000 Impact study.

The Robesonian (Lumberton, NC)
Daily Circulation: 12,877
Sunday Circulation: 15,662

Our RBS was calculated at slightly above the national average. In September we will launch a re-design that incorporates many more initiatives, i.e., reader-friendly design, promos, etc. Our goal is to cajole our light readers into spending more time with the product.

Rock Island Argus (IL)
Daily Circulation: 12,682
Sunday Circulation: 14,515

None that can be documented as yet, but people have noticed and remarked on differences even though we still have a way to go. Readers noticing and seeing changes as improvements is a good start.

Rockford Register Star (IL)
Daily Circulation: 68,015
Sunday Circulation: 80,692

Last year was the first year in ten that Sunday circulation grew.

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Daily Circulation: 304,949 (Mon-Fri); 621,221 (Mon-Sat)
Sunday Circulation: 789,137

Our research shows that readers can identify what we're doing in language that reflects what we're trying to do. We're in synch.

The Sacramento Bee (CA)
Daily Circulation: 283,194
Sunday Circulation: 343,414

A readership study, conducted for The Bee in April by American Opinion Research, showed that 75% of adults in the market read The Bee during an average week, higher than the national average reported by NAA.

The RBS score reported for The Bee was 3.84, compared to the national average of 3.24.

The Saginaw News (MI)
Daily Circulation: 47,100
Sunday Circulation: 57,711

Overall weekday "yesterday" readership increased from 53 percent daily in 2000 to 59 percent in 2002. Sunday readership stayed roughly steady between 70 percent and 74 percent in four measurements. (CMB 2002)

Sunday readership by demographic: Men, 70 percent; women 73 percent; white, 71 percent; black 72 percent; urban 73 percent; suburban, 75 percent; rural 65 percent. (We're working on our rural numbers.) (CMB 2002)

"Saginaw County readers have a high level of interest in most topics measured, particularly highly local topics. Satisfaction with The Saginaw News coverage of these topics is strong with excellent/good ratings averaging in the high 70 percent range." (CMB 2002)

Nevertheless, our circulation continues its decade long slide: In June 1993 our daily circulation was 56,665, 66,089 Sunday. In June 2003, daily circulation was 45,963; Sunday, 57, 249.

Salisbury Post (NC)
Daily Circulation: 23,869
Sunday Circulation: 25,223

The San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Daily Circulation: 373,344
Sunday Circulation: 438,848

The positive results in our readership survey in areas we have invested time and talent in improving.

Readership surveys of the website showing double-digit growth inlocal and national readership.

San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Daily Circulation: 479,433
Sunday Circulation: 539,563

September 2002 to current daily, Saturday and Sunday circulation is up.

Focus on advance renewals and minimizing core churn rather than short-term sales.

Sunday Readership numbers are up.

The Sanford Herald (NC)
Daily Circulation: 10,624
Sunday Circulation: 10, 461

Already, a couple of months into the project, we're getting comments like... "The paper sure has been good lately..."

Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)
Daily Circulation: 106,594
Sunday Circulation: 133,750

I'm afraid that I can't offer persuasive indicators. Our circulation was down last year due to reasons, I believe, unrelated to product.

Savannah Morning News (GA)
Daily Circulation: 56,599
Sunday Circulation: 70,137

The most persuasive indicator that our readership efforts are producing results is the response from our advertisers. For example, our efforts to improve advertising content in the paper might have brought positive response initially, but if we failed to deliver results, the interest would have been short-lived. Our continued success is the best indicator that we are moving in the right direction, creating advertising content that drives RBS.

South Bend Tribune (IN)
Daily Circulation: 72,186
Sunday Circulation: 101,204

Circulation and readership numbers in some areas stable or increasing by actual count and scientific survey.

The Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL)
Daily Circulation: 28,267
Sunday Circulation: 36,381

I started as editor only five months ago but talk on the street is upbeat and positive.

The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Daily Circulation: 118,877
Sunday Circulation: 132,489

Circulation declines have slowed this year both daily and Sunday. Anecdotally, readers call and tell us there's more to read and they like it.

Stanly News & Press (Albemarle, NC)
Daily Circulation: 10,000
Sunday Circulation: 10,000

People mention they saw something in the newspaper, and more importantly, say they learned something. However, we do not see circulation increases with our efforts, primarily because of the current high unemployment rate.

Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY)
Daily Circulation: 29,169
Sunday Circulation: 40,270

Readership survey conducted this winter shows this newspaper which exceeded the Gannett average on all key measures three years ago, has strengthened its position despite a local recession and downsizing of the newsroom.

The State (Columbia, SC)
Daily Circulation: 115,959
Sunday Circulation: 151,816

Not - our readership numbers are down in a recent ABC audited survey.

The State-Journal Register (Springfield, IL)
Daily Circulation: 57,384
Sunday Circulation: 66,708

Probably the most persuasive indication that our readers are responding to the various efforts are the many comments that are directed to me through e-mail, U.S. Mail, phone calls, reader surveys and in person. It is a critical component of the editor's role to pay close attention to what people say and how they say it in reference to the newspaper and its content. There is an immense volume of “response” that comes through this office.

Assurances that our efforts are paying off also are seen in the fact that we are enjoying extremely high reach in our market. The State Journal-Register reaches 94% of total adults in the Springfield IL MSA and performs very substantially in a broad range of important demographic categories -- e.g., capturing penetration in 93% of households with income in excess of $50,000 per year and 89% of readers aged 18-to-24 years old. (According to A & A Research survey findings in the Springfield, IL MSA Market Survey, 2001.)

Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)
Daily Circulation: 55,886
Sunday Circulation: 63,255

Our single copy sales up year-over-year through the end of June for four of five weekdays. We have also gained positive anecdotal feedback from focus groups, advertisers and readers.

Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Daily Circulation: 255,216
Sunday Circulation: 354,742

While we can't point to one specific aspect of our readership efforts and say it is the reason we are producing readership results, we know that our readership efforts collectively are helping us to maintain and grow our readership lead in our key competitive areas. We believe our multimedia strategy (content), our in-paper promotion, branding, and culture efforts have all played contributing factors in the results we have achieved.

Thomasville Times-Enterprise (GA)
Daily Circulation: 9,590
Sunday Circulation: 9,459

Hard to pinpoint since circulation has been flat... but increase in letters to editor, change in employee attitudes about putting our customers first, reduction in customer credits... many small areas that make a difference.

Times Herald (Port Huron, MI)
Daily Circulation: 29,998
Sunday Circulation: 40,155

Regular reader feedback on our Homes magazine is positive. In addition, advertising volume has doubled as our advertisers continue to get good response from the product.

Times Union (Albany, NY)
Daily Circulation: 99,242
Sunday Circulation: 145,357

While there are always a variety of influences on circulation, it appears that there has been a stronger circulation performance in the areas discussed above beyond what we have found elsewhere in our market.

The Titusville Herald (PA)
Daily Circulation: 4,065

Incremental growth in home delivery and single copy sales.

The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, PA)
Daily Circulation: 42,622
Sunday Circulation: 47,757

I get positive feedback, but honestly I have yet to see anything quantitative - it's very frustrating.

Tri-City Herald (Pasco-Kennewick-Richland, WA)
Daily Circulation: 40,993
Sunday Circulation: 44,782

Circulation growth.

Reader involvement in feature stories, letters to the editor.
Positive reader and news source comments from the 150+ accuracy check letters we send out each year to people named in our news stories.

The Union (Grass Valley, CA)
Daily Circulation: 15,871

Our subscriber invoices encourage feedback and the feedback indicates we are moving in the right direction.

Although we just completed a market readership survey, which included an RBS benchmark, we have begun hearing spontaneous comments by readers that they see improvement, and to keep it up. Also, our reader comment cards, filled out by re-subscribers, have gone from being overwhelmingly negative to overwhelmingly positive. We plan to do the RBS in 6 months.

Circulation and single copy sales remain flat despite a growing community. Part of that may relate to the fact that our survey showed that of those who do not subscribe, 62% used to be subscribers. In other words, we may need to do a better job of getting out the word that the newspaper is better than it used to be. Also, we are in a very wired community, and noticeable surges of web readership in the past year (perhaps from a wave of dot-com refugees from the Bay Area) may be suppressing our sales.

Steps are being taken to measure and eventually act in that area.

The Union-Recorder (Milledgeville, GA)
Daily Circulation: 7,439

Circulation has grown slightly and people who stopped taking the paper years ago have resubscribed because of the change in content, style, etc.

The Wichita Eagle (KS)
Daily Circulation: 92,721
Sunday Circulation: 148,624

We have grown readership for several years running, even as circulation rose and fell.