Michigan-based discount marketer Valassis Communications Inc. announced today it will remove its RedPlum coupons and circulars from the Los Angeles Times, moving instead to direct mail, Crain's Detroit Business reported.

Dropping of the LA Times marks the third large market Valassis has switched from newspapers to direct mail for a least part of its product supply, as it reasons the decline in newspaper circulation is reducing advertising penetration.

The company has also withdrawn its coupon products from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Dallas Morning News, resorting instead to the direct mailing of booklets via its shared mail product, available after the 2007 purchase of direct-mail giant Advo Inc. for $1.2 billion.

Circulation at the LA Times was down 6.5 percent for the six-month period ending March 31, sitting at 723,181, according to Audit Bureau of Circulation statistics. The paper's Sunday circulation suffered a 7.4 percent drop, finishing at just over 1 million.

Valassis hopes to continue its local coupon delivery collaboration with the Detroit Media Partnership, with products continuing to be provided via the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News. These papers continue to reach sufficient households to keep clients happy, the company said in the past, according to Crain's Detroit Business.