Morning News Dips Daily, Recovers on Sundays

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette had an increase of 2.5 percent in total paid daily circulation in Northwest Arkansas for the six months ended Sept. 30, while The Morning News had a slight decrease in weekday circulation of 1.4 percent.

For Sunday circulation, the The Morning News had a 3.5 percent increase, compared with a 1.3 percent increase for the D-G, according to unaudited publisher’s statements filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

In an attempt to have an apples-to-apples comparison, we used the D-G’s circulation in Northwest Arkansas (Washington, Benton, Carroll and Madison counties combined) and The Morning News’ circulation in its “designated market area,” which excludes 480 daily and 478 Sunday papers that were sold outside the area, primarily in Missouri.

The D-G’s circulation in the four-county area increased to 32,783 on weekdays from 31,987 for the six-month period that ended Sept. 30, 2002. The D-G’s Sunday circulation increased to 44,342 from 43,790 during the same period.

For the six months ended Sept. 30, 2003, The Morning News of Springdale saw daily circulation dip to 35,217 from 35,716 a year ago. But The Morning News’ circulation increased to 39,348 on Sundays from 38,008 a year ago.

TAB CHART

Newspaper War Stats

The following are total paid circulation figures for the six-month period ended Sept. 30 of each year:ttt

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Daily Circulation
Newspaper	2003	2002	% Change	2001	Two-Year % Change
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette	32,783	31,987	2.5%	30,796	6.5%
The Morning News	35,217	35,716	-1.4%	35,878	-1.8%
Sunday Circulation
Newspaper	2003	2002	% Change	2001	Two-Year % Change
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette	44,342	43,790	1.3%	41,991	5.6%
The Morning News	39,348	38,008	3.5%	37,254	5.6%

Note: The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s numbers are for the four-county area — Washington, Benton, Carroll and Madison counties — that corresponds to The Morning News’ “designated market area.”tt

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations