Changes in the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) format for reporting newspaper circulation permitted dailies to report gains in the most recent statistics published this morning (May 1). The figures are for the six months ended March 31 of this year. The figure which is comparable to a year ago is for total average circulation, which includes digital editions and branded editions such as Spanish language and community editions. Branded editions may include digital circulation.

The UT's total average circulation for Sundays rose to 364,454 from 296,272 in the report a year ago. Branded editions accounted for 73,400 of the figure. Monday-Friday was 230,742 from 218,614 a year ago, with branded editions accounting for 13,163 of the total. Both Sunday and Monday-Friday numbers included digital editions.

The Orange County Register reported large gains -- to 385,283 Sundays from 267,657 a year earlier with branded editions accounting for 88,016, and to 280,812 from 182,964 Monday-Friday with branded editions accounting for 97,217. The Los Angeles Times numbers also rose for both Sunday and Monday-Friday.