Wall Street Journal circulation tops 2.11 million

WASHINGTON—The Wall Street Journal is the top daily newspaper in the United States with average print and digital circulation of 2.11 million, according to figures released on Tuesday.

The New York Times takes the Sunday honors with total average circulation of 1.33 million.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) released total average circulation figures for the six-month period ending on March 31 but said that because of changes in its reporting methods they could not be compared to previous years.

The next largest daily US newspaper in average circulation terms after The Wall Street Journal was USA Today, with 1.82 million, followed by The New York Times with 916,911 and the Los Angeles Times with 605,234, the ABC said.

The San Jose Mercury news was next with total average circulation of 577,665 followed by The Washington Post with 550,821, the New York Daily News with 530,924, the New York Post with 522,874 and the Chicago Tribune with 437,205.

On Sundays, the Los Angeles Times trailed The New York Times with average circulation of 948,889, followed by The Washington Post with 852,861, the Chicago Tribune with 780,601 and the San Jose Mercury News with 636,999.

The News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal also came out on top when the last figures were released in October with daily circulation of 2.06 million.

US newspapers have been grappling with a steep drop in print advertising revenue, steadily declining circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.

The New York Times, in a bid to boost online revenue, recently began charging readers for full access to the newspaper’s website. The Wall Street Journal already charges for online access to WSJ.com.