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Ask ABC: How is paid circulation being redefined for U.S. newspapers?

At its November meeting, the ABC board of directors gave preliminary endorsement to a set of strategic initiatives developed by the NAA/ABC Qualification and Reporting Task Force. The goal of the task force was to develop recommendations that would provide advertisers with more useful information, streamline the ABC audit process, simplify reports and create more straightforward, intuitive circulation-qualification standards.

The board will review specific rule language and implementation details at its March meeting. However, they did endorse several high-level recommendations, including some significant changes to the definition of paid circulation.

Revised Definition of Paid Circulation
The first change to the paid circulation category is to revise the definition of paid circulation so that it is more straightforward. Specifically, the definition will be modified so that paid circulation represents payment by an individual reader or specialized distribution channel. As we reviewed last month, all “other paid circulation,” including third-party sales, NIE copies and newspaper employee copies will be reported in a new “verified” category.

Flexible Pricing Model
The second change to the paid circulation category is to implement a flexible pricing model where a newspaper copy is considered paid by ABC regardless of the price for which a copy is sold. This change would eliminate the requirement for newspapers to collect at least 25 percent of basic price for the copy to count as paid. It also brings U.S. newspapers in line with the pricing models currently in use by ABC’s periodical and Canadian newspaper members.

Related Links:
Ask ABC: What will a new verified category mean for U.S. newspapers?
ABC Board Agrees to Amend U.S. Newspaper Qualification and Reporting Standards
Q & A with ABC’s Mike Lavery on the New Newspaper Qualification and Reporting Standards
November 2007 Board Actions

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