Who is the RJ kidding?

Posted on February 1, 2007
Filed Under Advertising Mistakes |

In a recent Las Vegas Review Journal article, “Panel: Downfall of newspapers exaggerated,” the local daily newspaper blames the decline of their circulation on the merge of the Las Vegas Sun into the morning newspaper.

Now I never claimed to be a mathematician, but when you add two numbers you usually get a larger sum. In this case, the Review Journal claimed it had a daily circulation of 167,000 copies before the merger. The Sun had a circulation of about 30,000. Yet - when they merged the two of these together, the total circulation shrank?

The Review Journal’s exact quote was:
When a renegotiated operating agreement inserted the Sun into the Review Journal starting in October 2005, the Review-Journal’s overall circulation count dropped as the afternoon editions ended.

Cut me a break. Readers are not that dumb. Circulation shrank, just as all daily newspapers have, because people go elsewhere for their news anymore. It is just hard to explain that to advertisers when advertising rates continue to rise.

To validate my statements, I investigated the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Here is what they reported on the Las Vegas Review Journal.

2004 Audit:

Review Journal Decline in Circulation

2005 Audit:

RJ Circulation Decline

The year before the joint operating agreement between the Review Journal and the Sun changed, the RJ lost 1.7% of it’s Sunday circulation. To compound the issue….. if you factor in the fact that Las Vegas was the fastest growing city in the United States during this time period, with a population growth of 8,000 per month, it tells another story. One much worse than the folks down at the RJ want us to know.

So where are people going for their news? Much of the valley is now reading the NEWS - your community newspaper. It is delivered to your driveway each week and contains much of what we are looking for….. positive news about what is going on in the valley, local happenings within the neighborhood, sports scores of the local high school teams and classified advertising from neighborhood stores.

Without surprise, their circulation continues to grow each and every month. I believe their circulation is now close to 250,000, much greater than the daily newspaper. It is amazing - circulation grows when you publish the news your readers want to read. Novel idea!