Wall Street Journal is No. 1 Newspaper

Newspapers are hanging in there.

U.S. newspapers reported a slight increase in circulation the past year as more readers purchased digital subscriptions, according to a media industry group.

The average daily circulation in the six months that ended on March 31, rose nearly 1 percent for the 618 newspapers that participated in the Audit Bureau of Circulations semi-annual study, which was released Tuesday.

Digital circulation, which includes subscribers who access content on tablet computers, smartphones, e-readers and websites, accounted for 14.2 percent of overall circulation. That was up from 8.6 percent in the October-March period a year earlier.

Demand for digital content helped offset a decline in print circulation. Weekday digital circulation grew 61.6 percent while print circulation fell 6.7 percent. Circulation of so-called branded editions, such as alternative-language editions of newspapers, increased 33.7 percent.

The Wall Street Journal remains the No. 1 U.S. newspaper, with average weekday circulation of 2.1 million, about the same as a year earlier. The Journal has more than 1.5 million print subscribers and nearly 560,000 digital subscribers, according to the report.

USA Today ranked No. 2, with 1.8 million, down less than 1 percent. The New York Times was third with 1.6 million.