51.5 F
Laguna Hills
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Register Says Circulation Stabilizing; Cuts Lead to 7.1% Six-Month Decline

Register Says Circulation Stabilizing; Cuts Lead to 7.1% Six-Month Decline

By JENNIFER BELLANTONIO

The Orange County Register continues to see circulation shrink, albeit at a slower pace.

The newspaper saw a 7.1% drop in weekday circulation to 300,888 for the six months ended Sept. 30 vs. the year-ago period, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Its Sunday circulation fell 3.1% to 367,119 in the period.

The declines are not as steep as in the previous six-month period, when circulation changes,including telemarketing cuts,took their toll on the paper.

“Circulation is stabilizing after the major changes that impacted us last year,” said Ron Redfern, the Register’s senior vice president of advertising and sales.

The drop was “planned,” Register spokeswoman Nancy Souza said, the result of several circulation changes made in the past year. Those include cutting home delivery and single copy sales outside Orange County and shifting sales strategies, she said.

“We anticipate that it won’t drop any further,” she said.

The changes were spread over a few months,the main reason the paper also saw a drop in the previous reporting period, Souza said.

The paper saw a six-month decline of 10.9% in daily circulation through March 31, the biggest drop the Register’s seen in the past decade. Sunday circulation fell 9.6% in the period.

Redfern attributed the dip to distribution cutbacks, raising single copy prices (25 cents to 50 cents) and pulling back on telemarketing.

Telemarketing “created very high numbers, but also (had) very high churn and acquisition costs,” Redfern said.

The paper also scrapped door-to-door sales because “it wasn’t getting us quality subscriptions,” Souza said.

The Register offered discounted two-week subscriptions, which were counted by the audit bureau. But most subscriptions were cancelled after the promotion, she said.

“You pay more to acquire (a customer) then to keep them,” Souza said. “The truth is we’re more interested in people who read the paper, not people who just buy it and throw it away.”

Despite circulation drops, the Register’s readership has grown, even doubling on Sundays, Souza contends. More people may be looking at shared copies of the paper, she said.

“That’s what our advertisers care about,” she said.

The Register is focusing “more on relationship, retention and loyalty programs,” Redfern said.

“These are hard to build, but we are working on it,” he said. “Plus, we are increasing direct mail efforts, although response rates aren’t all that great.”

The Register also wants to create more value programs for subscribers that qualify with the audit bureau, Redfern said.

The paper gave subscribers a special deal on an Anaheim Angels’ promotion. The paper sold a commemorative book, T-shirt and poster.

Meanwhile, rival The Los Angeles Times has been making changes, too.

The paper, which no longer breaks out Orange County numbers, has pulled back on OC coverage in favor of more national and regional stories.

For the six months ended Sept. 30, the paper saw circulation rise in two of its three reporting categories: up 0.6% to 1,376,932 on Sundays, up 0.5% to 1,006,130 Thursday to Saturday, and down 2% to 925,135 Monday to Wednesday.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

Previous article
Next article
-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-