The newspaper circulation in the United States has decreased, the latest survey shows, as more and more customers choose the Internet version over the printed one and as the publishers make strong efforts to streamline their businesses, cutting back from promotion in order to lower the costs.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations released the figures on Monday, comparing the six months ending with March 2008 to the same period of time a year before.

According to the new figures, the weekday paid circulation at most of the main US papers fell. However, some papers, including Gannett Co Inc's USA Today and News Corp's Wall Street Journal announced that they recorded an almost 1 percent rise in circulation.

But The New York Times’ circulation decreased by 3.85 percent, while the Los Angeles Times reported that its circulation fell by 5.13 percent.

In addition, The New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp reported a 3.07 drop, while Mortimer Zuckerman’s New York Daily News said that its circulation fell by 2.09 percent.

The Daily News’ circulation fell at 703.137, just a little over the Post’s 702.488. The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News reported a combined decrease of 14.79 percent.

The Audit Bureau of Circulation reported that the paid weekday circulation among around 530 newspapers in the United States has dropped by 3.6 percent.

Average paid weekday circulation for the 25 largest U.S.
newspapers for the six months ended in March, with percentage
change from a year earlier.

1. USA Today, 2,284,219, up 0.3 percent
2. Wall Street Journal, 2,069,463, up 0.4 percent
3. New York Times, 1,077,256, down 3.9 percent
4. Los Angeles Times, 773,884, down 5.1 percent
5. New York Daily News, 703,137, down 2.1 percent
6. New York Post, 702,488, down 3.1 percent
7. Washington Post, 673,180, down 3.6 percent
8. Chicago Tribune, 541,663, down 4.4 percent
9. Houston Chronicle, 494,131, down 1.8 percent
10. Arizona Republic, 413,332, down 4.7 percent
11. Newsday, Long Island, 379,613, down 4.7 percent
12. San Francisco Chronicle, 370,345, down 4.2 percent
13. Dallas Morning News, 368,313, down 10.6 percent
14. Boston Globe, 350,605, down 8.3 percent
15. Newark Star-Ledger, 345,130, down 7.4 percent
16. Philadelphia Inquirer, 334,150, down 5.1 percent
17. Cleveland Plain Dealer, 330,280, down 4.2 percent
18. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 326,907, down 8.5 percent
19. Minneapolis Star Tribune, 321,984, down 6.7 percent
20. St. Petersburg Times, Florida, 316,007, down 2.1 percent
21. Chicago Sun Times, 312,274, n.a.
22. Detroit Free Press, 308,944, down 6.5 percent
23. Portland Oregonian, 304,399, down 4.8 percent
24. San Diego Union-Tribune, 288,669, down 2.6 percent
25. Sacramento Bee, 268,755, down 3.7 percent

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations