Business News
Sun-Times Media Reports Circulation Performance
Tuesday 26. October 2010 - Sun-Times Media today announced that the circulation performance for its flagship newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, and its combined seven suburban daily newspapers performed in line with the Companys expectations during the six-month reporting period ended September 30, 2010, compared with the same period last year.
Sun-Times Media said that paid circulation results included positive trends for its newspaper home delivery business. The Company also said that online page views for many newspaper Web sites continued to show positive growth during the period.
The Chicago Sun-Times Monday through Friday average circulation over the six-month reporting period ended September 30, 2010, was 250,747, a decline of 9 percent compared with 275,641 during the same period a year ago. That represented a narrower year-over-year decline than was reported in September, 2009. The newspaper’s Sunday circulation over the six-month reporting period was 237,367, down 5.5 percent. The latest figures for Sun-Times Media are according to the FAS-FAX report released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) early today.
The Chicago Sun-Times home delivery circulation performance was consistent with the Companys previously announced goals to increase its home delivery subscription base to stabilize circulation performance, with total Monday-Friday home delivery for the period down just 1.4 percent and Sunday home delivery down just 1.2 percent, exceeding the Companys expectations. The Company said it was pleased to have had great success in reaching its previously stated goal of a more stable home delivery subscription base for the Chicago Sun-Times, particularly when comparing the most recent six-month reporting period to the six-month reporting period ended March 31, 2010. Sunday Sun-Times results were also affected by a price increase to $1.75 cents from $1.50 on July 4, 2010, the first Sunday price increase since 1995.
Combined Monday through Friday circulation for all Sun-Times Media daily papers, which includes the Chicago Sun-Times and seven suburban newspaper titles, was 419,494, down 8.9 percent from 460,389 during the same period a year ago, also a narrower decline than the September 2009 to September 2008 year-over-year period.
Excluding the Chicago Sun-Times, the average Monday through Friday circulation for the seven suburban dailies was 168,747, down 8.7 percent. The Lake County News-Sun and SouthtownStar experienced increased circulation trends during the September 30, 2010 when compared with the previous six-month reporting period ended March 31, 2010.
The Pioneer Press weekly newspaper group declined 12.8 percent to 101,806 from the year-ago period, a reflection of strategic subscription price increases put into place in 2009. The Company is pleased to report that in comparing the period ended September 30, 2010 to the period ended March 31, 2010, the rate of decline was just -1.4 percent, a significant sign that paid circulation for the Pioneer Press group is stabilizing.
“We are very pleased to have performed and in some instances exceeded our expectations, particularly on home delivery for the Chicago Sun-Times and several of our suburban publications,” said Jeremy L. Halbreich, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Sun-Times Media. “In addition, we continue to move aggressively on our e-reader strategy to attract readers and we have had great success in converting and expanding significantly our Newspapers in Education (NIE) program into electronic form. Were also pleased to have made significant investment and progress in rolling out our new editorial content management system and we have begun the launch of redesigned Web sites for all of our publications across the Sun-Times Media network, improvements that are already providing us with improved capability to deliver more news and deliver it more quickly.”
“Sun-Times Media continues to be a leader in both the city and the suburbs when it comes to full market reach, with our publications in partnership with Yahoo! reaching more than 86 percent of the Chicago DMA,” said Rick Surkamer, President and Chief Operating Officer for Sun-Times Media. “We continue to develop innovative programs that drive circulation and get our advertisers their desired target audiences via print and online products. Positive paid circulation trends have been further complemented by remarkable digital growth. Suntimes.com, for example, has had a record year for page views, with seven straight months in 2010 of more than 30 million monthly page views on that site alone. These trends bear out our comprehensive strategy of continuing to transform into a multi-channel news company that leads this marketplace.”