The Audit Bureau of Circulation announced plans to begin measuring newspaper audience numbers across platforms, reports Reuters.

The new numbers will join print and online readership into a single statistic. The new total could provide some relief for newspaper publishers, whose sales, based on dropping print readers, are falling fast.

Being able to sell a total circulation number that counts a multi-platform information consumer as just one reader could help them stem that tide.

One analyst chimes in, saying it's still up to advertisers to see where and how their ads are working best online.