While newspaper circulation dropped 2.5 percent in the six-month period ended March 31, newspaper websites had an eight percent increase in viewers for the first quarter of 2006, according to the Newspaper Association of America's analysis of data released yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, writes the Associated Press (via MediaBuyerPlanner). Also, data from Nielsen/NetRatings found that an average 56 million people used newspaper websites in the period, representing 37 percent of all online access for the period, said the NAA.

The Audit Bureau data found that USA Today remained the top-selling newspaper with 2,272,815 copies, a 0.09 percent increase over the same period last year. The Wall Street Journal followed with 2,049,786 copies, dropping 1 percent.

The New York Times and Chicago Tribune had circulation gains of 0.5 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. However, circulations dropped for the San Francisco Chronicle (15.6 percent), The Boston Globe (8.5 percent), the Los Angeles Times (5.4 percent) and The Washington Post (3.7 percent).