But around 1990, like most large papers, its weekday circulation leveled off after years of strong growth.
Following industry trends, its weekday circulation has fallen to fewer than one million daily since 1990.
The Daily News said its average weekday circulation over the same period was 729,124, an increase of 15,275, or 2.1 percent.
The paper has an average weekday circulation of 28,100.
The Times's weekday circulation averaged 815,000, almost 300,000 below where it stood seven years earlier.
Those papers have a combined weekday circulation of more than 250,000.
The weekday circulation for the newspaper as of September 30, 2007 was 48,466 down from 53,929 in 2006.
The News's weekday circulation has been relatively stable - 764,230, compared with 769,801 a year earlier.
The Constitution, once the smaller newspaper, now has a weekday circulation of 320,300.
The paper has an average daily weekday circulation of about 49,000.