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THE LATEST FAS-FAX report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations documents a big-city newspaper sales slump that is now two years old.
For the fourth consecutive six-month reporting period, most of the 25 biggest U.S. papers showed year-to-year circulation declines. Seventeen newspapers reported their average daily circulations were down for the six months ended March 31, compared to the same period in 1994.
As in the last two FAS-FAX reports, these latest reports show that Sunday circulations of the biggest papers can no longer be counted on to resist the drag of weekday circulations.
Indeed, in this period the same number of big papers, 17, reported circulation declines both on Sundays and on weekdays.
Even the eight Sunday circulation gainers were hardly cause for celebration. The biggest year-to-year gainer among them was the Newark Star-Ledger, whose Sunday circulation was up 21,036 to 675,531. (Average weekday circulation of the Star-Ledger declined 13,096 during the period to 450,316.)
Most Sunday gains were far more modest, in the range of 3,000 to 4,000 copies -- or less. The St. Petersburg Times, for instance, showed a gain of 403 copies for an average Sunday circulation of 470,924.
Some of the circulation losers, however, reported substantial hits: the Detroit Free Press and News, for instance, off 57,094 copies, and Newsday, reporting average Sunday declines of 56,019,...