‘Seattle Times’ Circulation Leaps 30%, Operates in the Black

When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased publishing a print edition and went online-only, rival The Seattle Times was able to transfer all P-I subscribers to The Times, thanks to a joint operating agreement that had existed between the two papers.

Subscribers were free to cancel their Seattle Times subscription, but few did, and as those subscriptions have expired, 84% have renewed - sending The Times circulation up 30% to 260,000, from about 200,000, reports The New York Times. The paper recently raised its price, increasing circulation revenue, and Seattle Times publisher Frank A. Blethen says that the newspaper is starting to operate in the black on a month to month basis, though he would not give specifics.

The paper has also been able to maintain ad rates; volume and revenue are down sharply, but no more than industry averages, Blethen says.

According to paidContent, there were fewer than 10 cities with two daily newspapers as of December 2008. These include Boston, Chicago, Washington, DC, New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and San Francisco. (A January post on Reflections of a Newsosaur ponders which papers in those towns might be the ones to eventually bite the dust.)

Meanwhile, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s website, seattlepi.com, is doing better than expected. Hearst says the site, which relaunched when the newspaper closed in March, is seeing audience and revenue coming in ahead of projections.

The site covers crime, the aerospace industry and transportation closely; a variety of other subjects, like cooking, neighborhoods and local news are covered by more than 200 unpaid bloggers. Michelle Nicolosi, executive producer of the site, says seattlepi.com is “trying to be Seattle’s home page.”