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Ask ABC: New Verified Guidelines for Airline Distribution and New Rules for Combination Sales

What are the new guidelines for distributing verified copies on airlines?

Following the November 2007 board meeting, a special subcommittee of the ABC board met to clarify the guidelines surrounding verified copies distributed to airlines. These are the revised standards that will be applied by ABC staff pending a vote by the full board at its March 2008 meeting.

Publishers may distribute and claim up to two copies per flight, per issue based on the total number of monthly flights for an airline. A maximum of 8,000 copies per airline, per issue may be claimed as verified. These copies may be distributed on board the aircraft or at limited access airline clubs.

The following are examples of calculations to determine the number of allowable verified airline copies:

Example A:
Airline XYZ conducts 100 flights per day for the month of June.

• 100 x 30 (the number of flights per day multiplied by the numbers of days in the month of June)
• 3,000 x 2 (the number of flights per day multiplied by two, the number of copies that may be distributed per issue, per flight)
• = 6,000 (this is the maximum number of copies per issue, per magazine that can be distributed to Airline XYZ)

Since 6,000 is less than the 8,000-copy maximum, the total number of verified copies that may be distributed to Airline XYZ for the month of June is 6,000 per issue, per magazine.

Example B:
Airline JKL conducts 300 flights per day for the month of June.

• 300 x 30 (the number of flights per day multiplied by the number of days in the month of June)
• 9,000 x 2 (the number of flights per month multiplied by two, the number of copies that may be distributed per issue, per flight)
• = 18,000 (the maximum number of copies that may be distributed to an airline is 8,000 per issue, per magazine)

Since 18,000 is more than the 8,000-copy maximum, the total number of verified copies that may be distributed to Airline JKL for the month of June is 8,000 per issue, per magazine.

For all airline copies, the publisher must demonstrate that a contract is in place with the airline that specifies the following through an affidavit:

• The distribution location
• The title of the publication requested
• The number of copies requested for each publication

Are there new rules for selling two magazines together on the newsstand?

Effective with Jan. 1, 2008, issues, the rules governing the sale of two magazines together in the newsstand environment have changed.

Originally approved by the ABC board at its July 2007 meeting, the new guidelines eliminate the “three-stack” requirement when two magazines are sold together on the newsstand and meet the following requirements:

• The two issues that are sold in combination are the current issues.
• The two magazines have an editorial affinity or homogenous content.
• The minimum price collected is 100 percent for the highest priced publication and 25 percent for the second publication.
• No more than 50 percent of the newsstand draw for the smallest publication is sold in combination.
• Full disclosure is provided on ABC reports, including:
  • The titles and issues of the publications sold in combination.
  • The quantity of the copies sold in combination.
  • The price of the copies sold in combination.
• Publishers must notify ABC in advance of the combination sale if it will be included on ABC reports. A pre-evaluation form is available on ABC’s Web site.

If the combination sale does not meet all of the above requirements, then the “three-stack” requirements apply.

For More Information
For more information on either distributing verified copies to airlines or the single-copy sales in combination rules, please contact your Publisher Relations manager.

Related Links:
November 2008 Board Actions
July 2007 Board Actions
“Three-Stack” Policy
Single-Copy Sales in Combination Pre-Evaluation Form
Publisher Relations Manager Contacts

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