Inquirer weekday circulation up 2.3%; Sunday down

The Inquirer weekday circulation rose 2.3 percent and the Sunday circulation fell 2.9 percent, making the newspaper one of the better performers in the nation in audited circulation figures released today.

Daily News circulation was virtually flat, at 112,601, up 61 newspapers from the year-earlier period, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The period ended Sept. 30.

The gain of 7,638 newspapers, to 338,260, for the daily Inquirer over the year was the largest gain at the 50-biggest newspapers, according to bureau data.

The second-ranked Los Angeles Times added 3,917 daily papers, or 0.5 percent.

Sunday circulation nationwide continued to flag, apparently reflecting changing reading habits and the growth of online news outlets.

The Inquirer lost 19,948 papers on Sunday to 662,304 from the year-earlier period. The Houston Chroncle gained 0.1 percent, 635 newspapers. On a percentage basis, the Chicago Tribune did better than the Inquirer, shedding only 2.1 percent of its Sunday circulation, or 20,038 newspapers.

Sunday circulation losses were deep at the New York Times, down 7.6 percent, or 123,304 newspapers; the Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News, down 13.5 percent, or 93,824, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, down 9.2 percent, 47,980.

Brian Tierney, chief executive officer of Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., said he believed the marketing and circulation strategy for the newspapers was working and that the figures were "better than I would have hoped."

Tierney led a group of local investors that bought The Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com in June 2006. He said the new owners put $14 million into marketing and circulation to grow the media business. He said the owners have worked to reverse steep circulation losses forecast by Knight Ridder Inc., a previous owner.

Seeking to present a full picture of the reach of newspapers, the ABC released today a new feature that tracks Web site traffic and newspaper readership. The industry has been struggling with declining revenue as traditional advertising, such as classified jobs, moves online. The industry is attempting to focus advertisers on total audience - online and print - instead of just print readership.

The online data is being measured by Scarborough Research. Unique visitors to the newspaper Web sites are being reported from Nielsen/NetRatings, comScore Inc. and Omniture, the bureau said.

According to the report, philly.com had 1.62 million unique monthly users. In its core market, the Inquirer's print edition reaches 51.4 percent of the readers. The Daily News reaches about 11 percent.