Times eyes O.C. for Growth as register defends home turf.

EVEN as the Los Angeles Times make cuts in its downtown editorial staff, it s eyeing affluent Orange County as a growth opportunity--but it won't be easy.

In a speech to business leaders, Times Publisher Jeff Johnson said there were opportunities to build readership with better coverage of Orange County companies, as well as small to mid-size businesses around the region.

The Times now has 19 reporters working out of its offices in Costa Mesa. That's two up from last year but still fewer than in years past--and far fewer than the Orange County Register.

Register Publisher Chris Anderson said that he's not taking the threat of increased competition lightly, but believes the Times faces a big gap with the hometown Register, both in readership and resources.

"Even if they haven't had as strong an Orange County edition as they have in the past, we continue to compete with the Times for readers," Anderson said.

A survey by Scarborough Research finds that 34 percent of Orange County adults read the Register during the week, compared with 13 percent who read the Times. On Sunday, that difference widens to 43 percent for the Register and 19 percent for the Times.

Still, the Register's weekday circulation of 298,000 is off 3.2 percent for the six months ended Sept. 30, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, and the Sunday circulation of 358,000 is off 3.6 percent over the past year. Monday through Friday circulation at the Los Angeles Times, the region's largest paper and part of Chicago-based Tribune Co., fell 3.8 percent in the most recent period. The Times has daily circulation of 843,432 and 1.2 million on Sundays.

The paper doesn't break out Orange County numbers. Advertising industry sources estimate that the Times' circulation in Orange County is 177,000 daily and 248,000 on Sundays.

Executives at the Register and rival Times have sought to stress readership--how many people are reading a given copy--versus how many people are buying papers. The Register's daily readership covers 35 percent of adults in the county and 45 percent on Sundays, according to Anderson, citing Scarborough Research. That's the highest since 2002, Anderson said.

"Now that we're not selling so many "subscriptions through telemarketing, we are getting better customers and keeping them longer," he said.

Carolyn Johnson, associate professor in the Department of Communications at California State University at Fullerton, believes the Times has a long ways to go to make circulation inroads in her area, except perhaps among Orange County residents more interested in state, national and international coverage.

"There's certainly enough people in Orange County for two metro papers," Johnson said. "But we feel like kind of a step-child for the Times. You look at the paper and there's really nothing about Orange County in it most days."

Orange County staff reporter Michael Lyster contributed to this column. Staff reporter Deborah Crowe can be reached at [phone], ext. 232, or at [e-mail].