USA TODAY, WSJ, NYT are top three papers in circulation

USA TODAY was the nation's top newspaper in circulation for the six-month period ending September, according to industry data released Tuesday.

The top three U.S. newspapers by total average circulation – from print products, digital subscriptions and other papers that use their branded content – are USA Today (4,139,380), The Wall Street Journal (2,276,207) and The New York Times (2,134,150), according to Alliance for Audited Media.

The report contains data for more than 1,200 U.S. newspapers.

With newspapers offering subscriptions in various ways beyond print products, it has become increasingly difficult for AAM to provide apples-to-apples comparison data used to rank newspapers.

Some newspapers have installed a "paywall," requiring readers to pay for content online. Others e-mail PDF copies of the print paper. Many newspapers, including USA TODAY, offer content for free online while retaining a large base of print customers. And there are other content partnerships that make comparable assessment difficult.

USA TODAY gets a significant boost in circulation from its "Butterfly" program, in which it produces a branded insert for news and features distributed to other newspapers owned by its parent, Gannett. Its average weekday print circulation totaled 1.08 million, but the paper also had an additional 1.6 million in "branded editions" circulation.

USA TODAY also has 1.4 million in "digital non-replica" circulation, which refers largely to the number of readers who read the publication for free on its mobile apps.

AAM stopped publishing its comparative U.S. rankings and industry averages a year ago. "Due to ongoing AAM newspaper rule changes, no comparable data is contained in the September 2014," AAM said in a statement. "For this reason, we advise against comparing year-over-year data."

The Wall Street Journal reported 1.36 million in print circulation and has about 916,000 paying customers online.

The New York Times' weekday print circulation averaged 640,000 (1.18 million for Sunday). With a paywall on its main site and mobile apps that require monthly subscription, the paper's digital circulation totaled 1.38 million.