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Dothan Eagle No. 4 in the nation in circulation growth
Sunday, May 11, 2008 - 07:48 AM
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The Dothan Eagle continued to soar higher in circulation growth with the latest release of the ABC FAS-FAX.
With an average daily circulation growth of 5.67 percent for the past 12 months ending March 31, the Dothan Eagle is No. 4 in the nation.
“The Eagle’s circulation success is particularly satisfying because it is a team success. Everyone at the Eagle participated in our being the 4th fastest growing newspaper in the country,” Eagle publisher Jim Whittum said. “It was truly a collective effort on the part of all our departments. Circulation Director Marshall Andrews particularly is to be congratulated for his department’s extraordinary achievements, as is Managing Editor Ken Tuck for the work of his staff. To see the efforts of these departments result in something so remarkable is extremely satisfying to me personally and to everyone at the Eagle and Media General as well.”
While the Eagle’s daily circulation continued its ascent, its Sunday circulation also climbed higher. During the same 12-month period, the Eagle’s Sunday circulation increased by 5.45 percent.
“Our home delivery, single copy and customer service personnel have done an outstanding job in getting us to this point,” Andrews said. “And our growth has not been only in home delivery but in single copy also. To succeed at both simultaneously to this degree is truly unique. I’m very proud of our department and what they have accomplished.”
The circulation gains have not slowed down. In April, the Eagle’s average daily net paid circulation was 5.4 percent above April 2007, including average daily single copy sales up 9.1 percent and average Sunday single copy sales up 6.2 percent.
In addition to the Eagle’s circulation increases and No. 4 national ranking, the Eagle’s Web site continues to increase its readership as well. Through April, dothaneagle.com has seen an increase of about 25 percent in page views and unique visitors. This is going against numbers from 2007, which was a record-breaking year for dothaneagle.com.
“We’re excited about our success,” Tuck said. “To increase like we have in circulation and online is awesome. You hear a lot of doom and gloom about newspapers. The Eagle is a great example of how this industry is nowhere close to dying off.
“Providing the people in the Wiregrass with the local news they want is our number one goal. Readers have told us over the years that local news, sports, entertainment and other local information is the main reason they come to us. Everyone in the newsroom works hard every day to give our readers what they want. I’m blessed with a staff of people who are not only talented journalists but great people too.”