Virtual Press RoomBoard Actions
Rule Modifications Summary - October 2008
At its October 2008 meeting, the ABC board modified the following rules related to the U.S. newspaper qualification and reporting initiative.
- Rule Changes for Every-Other-Year Audits for Newspapers with Average Paid Circulation of 50,000 to 75,000
- Rule Changes for All U.S. Newspapers Effective April 1, 2009
- Rule Changes for All U.S. Newspapers Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule Changes for Every-Other-Year Audits for Newspapers with Average Paid Circulation of 50,000 to 75,000
Deferred Action
The board deferred final approval to changes to B 2.4 Time of Making Audit and C 4.1 Timing of Audit to allow ABC advisory committees more time to review and comment on the proposed modifications. The proposal would allow newspapers with total average paid circulation between 50,000 and 75,000 to engage in every-other-year audits provided the following conditions are met:
- Less than five percent of the newspaper’s total average paid circulation may be generated from third-party sales.
- The most recently released audit does not have an adjustment of more than two percent.
- The newspaper participates monthly in the Preprint Projection Center.
Rule Changes for All U.S. Newspapers Effective April 1, 2009
The first set of newspaper qualification and reporting rule changes will take effect April 1, 2009.
Final Passage – Effective April 1, 2009
The board modified Rule C 1.2 Prices to align the rule with changes made to the rules governing geographical or zone reporting. Under the new rules, geographical reporting becomes optional so publishers are no longer required to establish separate basic prices for each geographic area. If a publisher chooses to continue reporting by zone, they may optionally report a different set of basic prices for each zone.
Newspapers will continue to establish an annual basic price and single-copy basic price for each frequency of delivery available to consumers. The prices must be published at least quarterly within the publication and the newspaper must be able to demonstrate current and ongoing sales at those prices.
Action Rescinded, New First Passage Granted – Effective April 1, 2009
The board voted to rescind its July 2008 ruling to require newspapers to report by total average price.
Instead, the board agreed to modify C 2.9 Analysis of Individually Paid Home-Delivered Circulation by Price Category to require newspapers to report subscription circulation above and below 25 percent of basic price if more than five percent of a newspaper’s subscription circulation falls into the less than 25 percent of basic price category. This information will only be reported in a password-protected area of ABC’s website, not on ABC statements.
Final Passage – Effective April 1, 2009
As part of ABC’s rule review process, the board voted to eliminate the following rules because they were deemed no longer relevant or material to the current newspaper market: Rule C 2.14 Renewals, Rule C 3.5 Association Subscriptions and Rule C 5.19 Installment Subscriptions.
Final Passage – Effective April 1, 2009
The board altered Rule C 5.3 Combination Sales to allow two or more subscriptions to be sold in combination, provided each subscription is sold for at least one cent.
The board also modified Rule C 5.3 with respect to Joint Distribution Agreements (JDAs). The board agreed to “grandfather in” current JDAs so that circulation generated from those programs will continue to qualify as paid circulation under the new rules. New joint distribution agreements will be required to provide subscribers the opportunity to opt out of the program.
First Passage – Effective April 1, 2009
The board voted to make additional modifications to the upcoming version of Rule C 5.3 Combination Sales. The change further clarifies that newspapers may offer more than one subscription for the same newspaper to a single subscriber provided the subscriber pays an incremental amount for the second subscription. Based on the upcoming flexible pricing model that is effective April 1, 2009, the incremental amount is one cent. For example, a newspaper may offer two subscriptions for $100 as long as a single subscription is offered for $99.99 or less.
Rule Changes for All U.S. Newspapers Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The second set of rules modifications approved by the ABC board of directors will take effect Oct. 1, 2010.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board modified Bylaw 2.11 Paid Circulation Defined to clarify that verified circulation is excluded from paid circulation for membership eligibility purposes but is included in the calculation of total distribution.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule A 1.2 Permissions and Prohibitions was modified to include the new business/traveler and verified categories and stipulate that when comparing circulation between one or more newspapers, the comparisons must clearly identify the categories of circulations.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule B 2.1 Member Obligations was modified to include the verified circulation category.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule B 2.2 Audit Report Contents and Differences was modified to reflect “total average” circulation as opposed to just “total paid” circulation.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule B 3.5 FAS-FAX Reports was modified to include the verified circulation category.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board approved a change to Rule C 3.6 Gift Subscriptions to require subscriptions given to promote a professional or business interest of the donor to adhere to the rules governing verified circulation.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board modified Rule 3.7 Gift Subscriptions Not Recognized as Paid Circulation to allow gift subscriptions that have been paid for by someone who has been offered a premium and the amount received is less than the full value of the premium plus one cent.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board amended Rule C 5.1 Premium Defined to eliminate the requirement to report the premium and the number of subscription sales involving premiums.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board approved additional technical edits to the new Rule C 7.1 Optional Geographic Reporting.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board also voted to modify Rule C 7.12 List of Towns Receiving 25 or More Copies to require newspapers to report circulation by ZIP code reporting, but make reporting by town or county optional. National newspapers will not be required to report by ZIP code. The revised rule will be renumbered Rule C 7.2.
The board also approved additional technical edits to the new Rule C 7.2.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule C 11.1 Optional Analysis was revised to stipulate that newspapers may release an optional analysis of circulation not included in the paid or verified circulation categories.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board also voted to eliminate C 11.2 Other Analyzed Distribution, C 11.3 Third-Party Sales and C 11.4 Analyzed Non-Paid Distribution and ABC’s policy regarding event sales since they will no longer be relevant once the verified circulation category is adopted.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule C 11.5 List of Towns (and Postal Codes) Receiving 25 or More Copies was modified to eliminate the town-reporting requirement.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
Rule 11.6 National Newspaper Reporting was modified to remove the reference to third-party sales because of the elimination of the third-party sales category and the adoption of the verified category.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board modified the policy governing NIE copies served to college students to stipulate that these copies are classified as verified circulation in a sub-category labeled education copies.
Final Passage – Effective Oct. 1, 2010
The board eliminated the policy governing event sales. These types of circulation programs will be governed by the verified circulation rules.
