The New York Times saw its first increase in Sunday home delivery circulation in five years, according to the latest numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The Times is the most circulated Sunday paper in the country, delivering 1,645,152 copies, according to the Audit Bureau. And for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, its total circulation increased by 0.2 percent to 1,150,589.
Now that is only a slight increase, but few newspapers are growing their circulation in print.
Moreover, the Times saw a robust increase in its daily circulation number because the paper is making a more concerted effort to include its digital editions.
Many have already declared the Times’ new paywall strategy a success given the number of early adopters, but it remains to be seen whether the increases in paying digital readers will continue.
The Wall Street Journal and USA Today maintained their respective positions as first and second when it comes to daily circulation, though both saw slight declines, according to the Audit Bureau.
The Journal tally actually increased if one compares September 2010 to 2011, but the ABC changed its rules, which resulted in March 2011 to September 2011 comparisons. The Journal says the calculations of its numbers have not changed, so the year-over-year comparison remains "apples to apples."
After the Times, which remained in third place, the New York Daily News and Los Angeles Times rounded out the top five.
The Sunday top three consists of the New York Times, the Houston Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times.
