Windsor Star rolls back print edition to 5 days a week

Amid shifts in readership, Windsor's daily newspaper is rolling back its print edition to five days a week, the publication announced Thursday.

Starting March 4, the Windsor Star print version will be published Tuesday through Saturday, according to a notice to readers on the paper's website. The subscription price remains the same.

"While this means we will not be publishing a Monday printed newspaper or digital e-edition, the award-winning coverage of Windsor and region that subscribers expect will continue seven days a week," the post said. 

The decision "reflects the changing media landscape in North America and our own digital transformation," the paper said.

The newspaper industry has shrunk and consolidated as readers ditch newspapers and get news online. Estimated U.S. daily newspaper circulation, print and digital combined, fell 11 percent to 31 million in 2017, according to the Pew Research Center. As recently as 2000, weekday subscriptions totaled 55.8 million. In just the last three years, employment in newsrooms has fallen 15 percent.

This month, the Ionia Sentinel-Standard on Michigan's west side said it planned to publish a newspaper only on Wednesday and Saturday starting Feb. 27. It was available in print five days a week, but the publisher said delivery costs continue to rise.