US newspaper circulation falls, again

The US Audit Bureau of Circulations newspaper circulation data released overnight shows falls of close to 3% in circulation compared to the year before for most major US dailies. Read the New York Times report here or see a list of similar stories at other websites here. Publishers knew this was coming and have been busy putting out stories about growth in traffic to their masthead related websites.

While the US market is very different to Australia, we must expect similar falls here in 2008 and beyond – our strong home delivery penetration based on subscription deals can hold the dam wall for only so long.

Consumers have news and information channels which did not exist years ago. Australian publishers have demonstrated they understand this through their considerable investments in online and other businesses (free newspapers for example) in recent years.

Australian Newsagents, apparently, are yet to get it that newspapers are in decline. We need to reflect the decline in our capital investment programs. This is why the Watergardens concept store in which I am involved has not put newspapers at the heart of the business. We promote and sell them but not at the heart. We are at the heart – our brand as this is the one key aspect of the business we can control.

My view is that proactive entrepreneurial newsagents have a bright future. The news from the US of newspaper sales falling around 3% is disappointing but not unexpected and in line with what many expected. The decline will continue.