WSJ says circulation up since redesign

The Wall Street Journal said Monday that its circulation has increased since it launched its redesigned paper in January. In comparison, other newspapers saw drops in the first three months of the year.

Individually paid subscriptions rose 4.5 percent, and total subscriptions increased 0.6 percent since the launch of its redesign on Jan. 2. Subscription revenue increased by 1.8 percent.

“The Journal’s 4.5 percent growth in individually paid subscriptions demonstrates that readers have fully embraced the redesign including the more convenient size, improved navigation and increased focus on what the news means,” said L. Gordon Crovitz, publisher of The Journal in a statement. “Our integration of the print and online Journals has also been successful, with paid subscriptions for WSJ.com increasing 20 percent in the first quarter.”

The Journal grew its individually paid subscriptions 3.3 percent in the six-month period ending March 2007, according to the latest ABC FAS-FAX statement released Monday, the third consecutive period of growth. This is reported on the heels of a 9.2 percent increase reflected in the September 2006 ABC statement, which was the paper’s highest growth rate in individually paid subscriptions in more than 25 years.

The Journal maintains an extremely high number of individually paid subscribers — nearly a half million more than the next newspaper reported by ABC.

Total Journal circulation grew to 1,721,694 from 1,713,413 during the March ABC period. The redesigned Journal has been well received by both advertisers and readers, with research showing 80 percent of subscribers prefer the new edition.

Improvements in print/online integration made in January have benefited the Journal franchise as a whole, with growth in both the print and online products. During the first quarter of 2007, paid subscriptions to the Online Journal grew 20% to 931,000, up from last year’s 774,000.