D-G Daily Circulation Passes Morning News
by June 19, 2006 12:00 am 87 views
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has passed The Morning News of Springdale in daily circulation for Northwest Arkansas, according to “publisher’s statements” the daily newspapers filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The D-G had an average daily paid circulation of 34,895 for the six months ended March 31. That’s for Benton, Washington, Madison and Carroll counties combined.
The Morning News had an averaged daily paid circulation of 32,546 for the same period for its six-county designated market area. Besides the four counties mentioned above, The Morning News’ numbers also included McDonald and Barry counties in Missouri, which the newspaper recently added to its DMA.
The above numbers are unaudited and include circulation from Monday through Saturday. The Morning News’ total paid daily circulation was 33,114 for the period, but that includes newspapers sold outside the DMA.
The Business Journal used the DMA numbers to get an apples-to-apples comparison with the D-G, which circulates statewide and to 12 counties with its Northwest Arkansas edition.
The Morning News’ daily circulation reflects a 4.9 percent drop from 34,429 in the six months ended March 31, 2005. But that’s considerably better than the 10 percent dive the newspaper’s daily circ took in the spring of 2005 as The Morning News tried to wean readers off a $20 per year subscription special (about 25 percent of full price).
The Morning News had a 1.5 percent decline in Sunday circulation from 40,067 to 39,448.
The D-G had a 0.3 percent drop in daily circulation (from 34,986) and a 0.5 percent increase in Sunday circulation (from 44,561 to 44,802) when compared to the six months ended March 31, 2005.
The D-G took the lead in Sunday circulation in 2000. The Morning News kept the daily lead until March 2005, then regained it six months later.