L.A. Times leads U.S. papers in readership growth.

Aided by price cuts at the newsstand, The Los Angeles Times had the biggest known circulation increase of any newspaper in the country in the six months ended March 31, according to figures released last week by the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

Nonetheless, on a percentage basis, the Times still isn't the fastest-growing daily newspaper in Los Angeles County. That honor goes to Investor's Business Daily.

The Audit Bureau releases figures on newspaper circulations twice annually. Not every paper in the U.S. is tracked by the bureau, whose figures are used by members to set advertising rates.

American newspapers have been gradually losing circulation for over a decade. Until recently, the L.A. Times was also suffering from readership erosion, but a series of steps begun shortly after the arrival of Mark Willes as chief executive of parent company Times Mirror Co. in 1995 seems to have reversed the trend.

As of March 31, the paper's circulation was 1,068,812, a gain of 4.7 percent over the same period last year. Of the 10 biggest daily newspapers in the United States (the Times is the fourth biggest), it was the largest percentage increase.

In fact, only three of the 10 biggest papers had any circulation gain at all, with the rest either losing ground or remaining flat.

If the trend continues, the Los Angeles Times will soon become bigger than The New York Times. That paper had a circulation decrease of 4.4 percent as of March 31 below the same period last year, bringing its total to 1,107,168 - just over 38,000 more readers than the Los Angeles Times. The other two bigger papers are the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Daily Newspaper Circulation in L.A. County(*)

Paper                Period       Circ.       Circ.
                                 3/31/96     3/31/97

L.A. Times              M-F     1,021,121   1,068,812
L.A. Times             Sun.     1,391,074   1,361,988
Investor's
Business Daily          M-F       210,942     228,039
Daily News              M-F       204,220     204,493
Daily News             Sun.       217,652     215,881
San Gabriel
Valley Grp.          M-Sat.       119,102     119,460
San Gabriel
Valley Grp.            Sun.       119,354     120,137
Copley L.A.          M-Sat.       117,151     116,451
Copley L.A.            Sun.       112,465     111,376
Press-
Telegram                M-F       109,255     109,515
Press-
Telegram               Sun.       125,577     124,920
La Opinion              M-F       101,891     103,048
La Opinion             Sun.        61,967      62,099
Hollywood
Reporter           M,W,Th,F        24,103      24,936
Hollywood
Reporter               Tues.     34,770        36,205

* For six-month period ended March 31

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulation

Probably the biggest single factor in the turnaround at the Times was a decision last summer to lower its newsstand price, which in many parts of Southern California was 50 cents for a weekday copy. The Times can now be had for a quarter on weekdays.

Neither the Times nor the Audit Bureau breaks down newspaper circulation based on paid subscriptions versus newsstand sales, so it's impossible to know the exact impact of the price decrease.

Another contributing factor may be the Times' new "Get the Story, Get the Times" ad campaign, which has been flooding Southern California billboards and other media since early last year. Newspaper spokesman Mike Lange said the campaign will continue well into the future.

Lange also pointed to new editorial items such as the "Cutting Edge" and "Wall Street California" features in the Monday and Tuesday Business section, as well as a new tabloid-size Calendar section on Thursday, as contributors to the circulation gain.

While the Times is congratulating itself for its circulation gain in its own ads, it was actually outdone on a percentage basis by Investor's Business Daily, the national business publication based in Marina del Rey. Its circulation grew to 228,039 as of March 31, a gain of 8.1 percent over last year.

Investor's Business Daily spokeswoman Kathy Sherman said the newspaper's surveys have shown that 80 percent of its readers dropped their subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal after discovering Investor's Business Daily.

"When you have a good product, it grows circulation," Sherman said. "We have features in the paper that are not easily duplicated."

Investor's Business Daily also has an effective ad campaign featuring testimonials from high-profile business and political leaders like Steve Forbes and Jack Kemp.

Most other daily newspapers in L.A. County remained relatively flat in circulation. The Daily News of Los Angeles based in Woodland Hills, for example, picked up 273 readers this year over last, for a total weekday circulation of 204,493.

Copley Los Angeles Newspapers, which publishes the Torrance Daily Breeze, The Outlook of Santa Monica and the San Pedro News-Pilot, dipped to a circulation of 116,451 for Monday through Friday, a loss of 700 readers.

La Opinion, the steadily growing Spanish-language daily, had a 1.1 percent circulation gain, growing to 103,048 readers as of March 31.

The other L.A. County papers listed by the Audit Bureau were The Hollywood Reporter, the Long Beach Press-Telegram and the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group, which publishes the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Pasadena Star-News and the Whittier Daily News. All had circulation gains of less than 1,000 readers.

A number of daily newspapers published in L.A. County that are not members of the Audit Bureau. They include the Glendale News-Press, the Newhall Signal and the Antelope Valley Press.

Daily Variety is a member of the Audit Bureau but didn't submit circulation figures this year.