Suffers first ever double-digit decline over six months

By Toni Fitzgerald / Media Life Magazine
Oct 26, 2009
 
The circulation decline for U.S. newspapers got even steeper during the latest reporting period, hitting double digits for the first time.
 
Average weekday circulation fell by 10.62 percent during the six months ended Sept. 30 for the 379 daily newspapers measured by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which released the data this morning. That marked a loss of more than 3 million copies per day, from 34,005,421 last year to 30,395,652 this year.
 
That’s a much steeper decline than was reported in the last three periods. The period ending in March this year saw daily circ fall 7.09 percent, the period ended in September ‘08 was off 4.64 percent, and the period ended in March ‘08 was off 3.6 percent.
 
Sunday papers also suffered significant falloffs during the period ended last month. ABC figures for 562 papers found that circulation declined 7.49 percent, from 43,253,201 to 40,012,253.
 
Again, that was a much steeper dip than the previous three recording periods, which saw dips of 5.37 percent, 4.85 percent and 4.6 percent.
 
Circulation has been decreasing for years, obviously, but there’d been speculation that this reporting period would see even bigger drops.
 
For one thing, the recession has forced people to cut back on all sorts of extras, and that includes newspapers now that news is available via other free sources like the internet and cable.
 
Too, changes in the industry itself have hurt circulation. The Detroit newspapers, for example, cut back on delivery, and USA Today has been hurt by changes in its hotel programs.
 
As expected, the Wall Street Journal surpassed USA Today to become the nation’s No. 1 newspaper, with an average daily circulation of 2.02 million.

Posted under Newspaper

While San Diego County Credit Union was experiencing a steady flow of requests for home loans, the company knew that many customers and non-customers weren’t aware that SDCCU offered such a service.  As a result, people were applying for home loans out of state rather than seeking help from the local credit union.

SDCCU called in Advanced Marketing Strategies to create a five month radio campaign that extended from spring to fall, 2008, with spots placed on more than half a dozen stations. 

Designed to reach men and women 25 to 54 years old, the ads featured two young men talking outside while they were getting their mail and seeing more out of town applications for home loans.  The ad emphasized the benefits of getting a home loan from SDCCU, including convenience, competitive rates, and the company’s 70-year history in San Diego County.

According to AM Strategies, the radio campaign took place at a time when the home loan industry in general was in a slump, so the 20-percent increase that SDCCU realized in home loan applications was especially significant.

While the ad campaign was supported by e-mails and statement stuffers, staff at SDCCU knew that the radio messages were working.  Customers who called or came into the branches told them they had heard about their home loans on the radio!  The radio spot created awareness about a department of SDCCU some were unaware even existed, exhibiting the effectiveness of advertising on radio.

Posted under EAR Award Winners

KyXy 96.5 &  Sophie @ 103.7 KSCF partnered once again with Hornblower Cruises and Events for Cruise for a Cause.  This year’s theme for the October 15th event was San Diego Style, featuring local designers, boutiques and businesses.  Fans paid $10 dollars for tickets to the popular event, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting The American Cancer Society. 

Having a good time for a good cause

While cruising beautiful San Diego Bay at sunset, guests enjoyed a tasting of One Hope Wine and a complimentary gift bag.  They also had access to exclusive shopping deals at discount prices as well as mini spa treatments.  They heard a live performance by local musician Eve Selis and were able to participate in a silent auction.  Money raised through that portion of the event also went to The American Cancer Society. 

“Creative ideas and strong partnerships with media like KyXy, Sophie@ 103.7 and Hornblower are key in helping the American Cancer Society,” states Rebecca Milkey, Director of Marketing for Hornblower Cruises & Events.

The American Cancer Society’s Director of Corporate Relations, Jennifer Berg comments, “The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is proud to be partnering again with KyXy 96.5 and Sophie 103.7 for this year’s Cruise for a Cause. Funds raised through this event will help support vital patient support programs happening right here in San Diego as well as ground-breaking research that will help save lives.”

Posted under Community Cuts

Great San Diego Day on the Course

XTRA Sports 1360 held its second annual “XTRA Sports Open” on September 23rd at Salt Creek Golf Course in Chula Vista.   Raffle tickets sold before and throughout the tournament raised $14-hundred dollars for the Huntington’s’ Disease Foundation. The proceeds will be used to help San Diegans with the debilitating disease.

XTRA Golf Tournament 2009

Posted under Community Cuts

Americans are increasingly turning to online and radio sources for news and information, and are spending less time with daily newspapers and TV, according to a media use and credibility survey commissioned by ARAnet and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation.
 
Daily newspaper usage dropped 4.1% and TV usage dropped 3.6%, while radio usage increased 2.9% and online usage increased 1.9%, the study found.
Credibility ratings for nearly all types of media except TV rose slightly from a year ago. TV is, however, still deemed to be most credible.
 

More people are getting their news from radio

Consumers reported getting 31% of their news and information from TV, and 19.4% from both radio and daily newspapers.
The media-use rankings from the survey, compared with last year’s results:
• Television: 31.1% (down from 34.7% a year ago)
• Daily newspaper: 19.4% (down from 23.5%)
• Radio: 19.4% (up from 16.5%)
• Online: 14.6% (up from 12.7%)
• Weekly community papers: 4.4% (down from 5.1 %)
• Free shopper newspapers: 2.9% (up from 2.2%)
• Magazines: 2.1% (up from 1.6%)
The survey also revealed a trend toward increased use of online sources for news and information among the college educated, Hispanics and those making more than $100K per year, compared with the general population.
 
Not surprisingly, the research also found that the younger the respondent, the more reliant that person was on online sources.
 
Key demographic differences:
• Respondents with household incomes of $100K or more receive considerably more news and information from online sources (23.1% vs. 14.6% for the general population).
• College grads report using online sources more frequently (20.0%).
• Adults ages 18-34 report the highest reliance on online sources (22.2%).
• Hispanics are more likely to prefer online sources (21.0%).
 

Media credibility

The survey asked respondents to assign credibility scores to seven types of media, ranging from one for “not at all credible” to 10 for “extremely credible. Credibility scores:
• Television: 6.5 on a scale of one-to-10 (down .1 from a year ago)
• Daily newspaper: 6.3 (same as last year)
• Radio: 6.3 (up .3 from a year ago)
• Online: 5.7 (up .1)
• Weekly community papers: 5.4 (up .2)
• Magazines: 4.9 (up .3)
• Free shopper newspapers: 4.3 (up .8)

About the survey:  The survey was conducted with 1,000 US adults, ages 18+. It was conducted by phone September 10-13, 2009.

Posted under Uncategorized