The Seattle Times' average weekday circulation declined 5.4 percent during the six-month period that ended March 30 when compared with the same six-month period a year earlier, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Circulation at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer dropped 9 percent, while the combined Sunday edition, which carries the mastheads of both newspapers but is produced almost entirely by The Times, slid 4.7 percent.

The raw numbers: weekday Times down from 233,268 to 220,734; weekday P-I down from 144,836 to 131,769; Sunday down from 457,010 to 435,581.

The Seattle papers' declines were worse than overall results nationwide. Average weekday newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period that ended in March, as more people turned to the Internet and other media outlets for news and information, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group.

Several top newspapers reported significant declines in the period, including Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times, down 5.4 percent at 851,832; The Washington Post, down 3.7 percent at 724,242; the New York Daily News, also down 3.7 percent at 708,477. News Corp.'s New York Post slipped 0.7 percent to 673,379.

The largest slump at a major daily came at the San Francisco Chronicle, where average paid weekday circulation fell 15.6 percent to 398,246 as the newspaper continued to cut back on less-desirable circulation such as copies paid for by advertisers and then distributed free.

In Seattle, Times management notified employees of the paper's expected circulation drop more than a month ago. In a March 23 e-mail to employees, President Carolyn Kelly said the declines were partly the result of decisions to increase single-copy prices and eliminate some circulation last year.

"Had we not made those conscious cuts, our results would be at or better than the industry average," Kelly wrote.

The Times and the P-I, which is owned by New York-based Hearst Corp., are bound by a 23-year-old joint-operating agreement (JOA). The Times handles business and production functions for both papers but each maintains separate news and editorial operations.

The locally owned Times, which maintains producing the P-I is an economic burden that threatens The Times' future, moved in 2003 to exercise an escape clause in the JOA to terminate the agreement, close the P-I, or both. Hearst filed a lawsuit to block The Times' move; the suit hasn't been resolved.

The P-I can't survive outside the JOA, Hearst maintains.

Since the JOA fight began three years ago, average weekday circulation has dropped 7.8 percent at The Times and 15.4 percent at the P-I. Sunday circulation has fallen 8.3 percent.

Material from the Associated Press is included in this report.

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com

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