Does Anyone Read The Sunday Paper?

Remember when reading the Sunday paper was something to look forward to?

Perhaps, I have dated myself with that statement! Anyway, I remember several Sundays when my father would say, “Don’t touch the paper.” No one could read it before he had. He knew that if someone else read it, they wouldn’t put it back in the right order, etc.

Photo by Tony the Misfit, courtesy of flickr

He doesn’t have to tell me anymore since I can find much of the paper’s contents before the paper arrives. On top of that, I don’t have to subscribe to anything and I don’t have anything to recycle or throw away.

I am curious as to how many people actually read the Sunday paper, or any newspaper, on a regular basis. Newspaper troubles seem to be reaching a tipping point.

Take a look at the charts for these newspaper stocks: Washington Post (Ticker: WPO), The New York Times (Ticker: NYT), and News Corp. (Ticker: NWS).

According to MarketWatch, The New York Times Co. has threatened to close the Boston Globe unless the Globe’s unions agree to $20 million in concessions.

Similar threats were issued to the San Francisco Chronicle and Newark, New Jersey’s Star-Ledger. Several other companies have filed for bankruptcy including the Tribune Co. and Sun-Times media group, both of Chicago, Illinois.

The lost revenue from lower subscription and advertising makes it difficult for newspaper companies to remain profitable, especially if all they do is produce newspapers. What should they do next?