The Audit Bureau of Circulations report for 2009 shows that among top 25 US newspapers only the Wall Street Journal gained subscriptions, reports Ad Age. ABC found paid circulations dropped at an average weekly rate of nearly 11 percent in the year. In year-over-year comparisons, double digit drops were recorded at 15 of the top 25 newspapers. Meanwhile the Journal managed a gain of about 14 percent, benefiting from an increase in paid online subscriptions.
The Journal has more than 400,000 paying online subscribers. Without its online subscriptions, the paper would’ve been among the losers with a slight two percent decrease in paid print subscriptions in 2009. Ad Age sees the Journal’s success online as daring other papers to seek out a paid digital model.
Ad Age has a table with ABC s figures for paid circulations in 2008 and 2009 for the top 25 U.S. papers. Read more at Ad Age {link no longer active}.
