Sun Circulation Dips

The Baltimore Sun's average daily circulation for the six months ended March 31 fell 9.6 percent, compared with a year earlier, as declines in newspaper sales continued for most of the nation's biggest publishers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations said Monday.

Average daily newspaper circulation declined 7.1 percent among 395 U.S. dailies. Sunday circulation fell an average 5.4 percent at 557 U.S. newspapers, the ABC said.

Paid circulation declined to 210,098 at The Baltimore Sun. Sunday circulation fell 5.8 percent, to 351,243, ABC reported. A Baltimore Sun Media Group spokeswoman said the company expected declines in that range because it reduced sales outside Baltimore's five surrounding counties.

"In those geographic areas, we have taken down our circulation ... to focus on our large and loyal audience," spokeswoman Renee Mutchnik said.

All of the nation's top 25 newspapers, except The Wall Street Journal, reported average daily circulation drops.

ABC said more than 50 percent of all adults living in the Baltimore market read the newspaper during a one-week period. Its Web site had 3.4 million unique visitors last year, Mutchnik said, up from 2.5 million in 2007.