Times, P-I daily circulations increase, contrary to national industry trends

Bucking industry trends, both Seattle daily newspapers reported small increases in weekday circulation today.

And, for the first time in many years, the smaller Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported a bigger gain than The Seattle Times.

The P-I's average paid weekday circulation for the six-month period that ended March 31 was 129,563, up 1,547 — 1.2 percent — from the same period a year earlier, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The Times' weekday circulation grew 1,141 — 0.5 percent — to 220,863. Average circulation for the combined Sunday paper, however, slid 14,403 — 3.4 percent — to 409,231.

Today's circulation report is the first since the publishers of the two papers settled a four-year legal dispute over their joint operating agreement (JOA). The settlement included provisions requiring The Times, which handles the business side for both papers, to take new steps to boost P-I circulation.

The papers maintain competing news operations. As part of the legal dispute the P-I's owner, the Hearst Corp., charged The Times had maneuvered illegally to undermine the P-I in the marketplace despite language in the JOA contract requiring The Times to act in the P-I's best interests.

Both Seattle dailies' circulation probably also benefited from the demise of the Kent-based King County Journal, which stopped publishing in January 2007.

Nationwide, industry journal Editor & Publisher reported weekday circulation dropped 3.5 percent, Sunday circulation 4.5 percent. The New York Times' circulation declined 3.8 percent, The Washington Post 3.5 percent, The Orange County Register 11.9 percent, the Los Angeles Times 5.1 percent and the San Francisco Chronicle 4.2 percent.