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# Richmond Times-Dispatch print subscriptions decline as cost rises to $1,430 annually
- URL: https://www.richmonder.org/richmond-times-dispatch-print-subscriptions-decline-as-cost-rises-to-1-430-annually/
- Published: 2025-09-14T17:04:06.000Z
- Updated: 2025-09-15T13:12:34.000Z
- Description: While print declines are a reality for virtually all publishers in the current climate, the Times-Dispatch also reported a decline in digital subscribers for a second consecutive year.
- Author: Michael Phillips
- Tags: Local News, #hide

The Richmond Times-Dispatch disclosed its subscription numbers [in Friday’s edition of the newspaper](https://richmond.com/eedition/page%5F5d71c30c-43db-564a-8f73-3f69ef0929a7.html), as is mandated by law to receive discounted postage rates.

The news outlet reported 18,129 print subscribers and 22,291 digital subscribers as of June 8.

While print declines are a reality for virtually all publishers in the current climate, the Times-Dispatch also reported a decline in digital subscribers for a second consecutive year.

In 2022 the newspaper reported about [37,000 print subscribers](https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2022/10/12/richmond-times-dispatch-circulation-decline), down from more than 100,000 in 2012\. Print media struggles are a national trend, and the Times-Dispatch’s numbers mirror those being reported by similar outlets across the country.

The RTD’s parent company, Lee Enterprises, has [reduced printing to three days a week](https://quadcitiesbusiness.com/lee-owned-newspapers-cut-print-editions-to-three-per-week/) in a number of its markets, with delivery by postal carriers. A Lee representative did not respond to a request for comment.

In Friday’s filing, the Times-Dispatch listed the cost of a delivered daily subscription to the print newspaper as $1,430 a year.

The company [added a $4.99 monthly fee](https://x.com/BossRVA/status/1943379808412434788) earlier this year, citing “rising operational costs due to inflation and global tariffs.”

Lee Enterprises reports subscription numbers on its corporate tax filings as a combined number, adding print and digital customers.

In 2023, it reported 48,807 combined subscribers in Richmond, while last year the number dropped to 46,896\. *(Note: This sentence has been corrected, as the years were incorrect in the original version.)*

The tax-filing number is reported in September, and the federal disclosure tracks numbers in August, so the 40,420 subscribers listed in Friday's paper don't represent a straight apples-to-apples comparison.

*Contact Michael Phillips at* [*mphillips@richmonder.org*](mailto:mphillips@richmonder.org)*.*

*Note: The author of this article previously worked at the Times-Dispatch.*

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