WSJ Posts Only Weekday Sales Growth Among Top 25 US Papers

The Wall Street Journal posted the only weekday circulation growth among the top 25 U.S. newspapers during the six months ended March 31, and only a with 0.6% gain at that, an industry audit group said.

The sales woes, coupled with the ongoing advertising depression in the industry, highlight why some newspapers have going to reduced-frequency delivery or scrapped the print model entirely for an online-only presence.

The Journal's individual paid circulation grew 2.8%, the paper said as filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The growth was the fourth-straight period of gains, and put the total individual-paid gains the past four years at 13%.

Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Journal and editor in chief of Dow Jones & Co., attributed the company's growth to its latest digital offerings, including its Blackberry and iPhone application and Chinese language Web site.

The total-circulation gains put the Journal, at 2.08 million, almost even with Gannett Inc.'s (GCI) USA Today, long the nation's best-selling weekday newspaper. The average daily gap between the two shrunk to 31,536 from 214,756.

News Corp. (NWS) owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal and this newswire.

But all wasn't good for the media giant helmed by Rupert Murdoch as the New York Post, which is also owned by News Corp., posted an 21% slump in weekday paid circulation, the biggest drop of the 25 most-sold papers. Ten others also recorded double-digit declines.

For Sunday publications, only two saw paid-circulation gains - Gannett's Arizona Republic, which reported a 0.2%, or 1,039-copy, increase and Lee Enterprises Inc.'s (LEE) St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It reported a 0.3%, or 1,250-copy, increase.

The New York Times Co.'s (NYT) flagship paper remained the most-sold Sunday paper, though the average dropped 1.7% in the latest six months, and its Boston Globe paper posted a steep 11% drop.

Five of the top 25 Sunday publications posted double-digit declines, the biggest being the 19% slump at the Newark Star-Ledger. The New Jersey publication, owned Advance Publications Inc., was nearly closed before nearly 40% of its newsroom staff agreed to depart in a buyout wave.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires, 201-938-5285, [e-mail]