BUSINESS/ FARM PUBLICATIONS

Unanimous Consent, Effective Nov. 13, 2006
The ABC board unanimously agreed to modify the Consolidated Media Report to reflect “Total Contacts,” replacing the previously used term, “Total Audience Reach.” The ABC board affirmed that tradeshow attendance should be audited if a publisher wishes to include tradeshow statistics in a Consolidated Media Report.

The board also modified Rule D 2.1 Multi-Copy Sales to allow copies or subscriptions induced or influenced by a premium, contest, a contribution to charity, a special write-up in the publication or out of it, a special advertisement, or any other extraneous consideration to be included in paid distribution.

For Information
The board agreed to apply Bylaw 7.2 Offenses to business and farm publications based on adjustments to total qualified circulation.

CONSUMER MAGAZINES

First Passage
The board also voted to modify ABC rules to allow magazine single-copy combination sales, provided that the minimum price to be collected for the combination sale is at least that of the highest priced publication plus a qualifying price for additional magazines (at least one cent). All magazines included in the combination sale must be generally available separately in the newsstand marketplace. ABC reports must identify the combination publications, the issue sold, quantity sold and price of the combination sale.

Unanimous Consent, Effective Nov. 13, 2006
ABC’s board unanimously agreed to adopt Rule F 16.1 Consolidated Media Reports and allow consumer magazines the option to report circulation, Web site traffic, and other auditable media in one aggregated gross figure. ABC will seek advisory committee input on the new report’s final format and nomenclature.

The board of directors also adopted Rule F 4.1 Annual Single Copy Reporting Option to allow for single-copy, annually issued publications to release an Audit Report reflecting final sales without being required to file a Publisher’s Statement. Instead, the publication would be required to report their data via ABC Rapid Report.

Unanimous Consent, Effective Nov. 13, 2006, for Copies Served Beginning Jan. 2007
The board modified Rule F 2.1 Sponsored Sales to require recipient notification that identifies the eligible purchaser of the subscription; that publisher/agent invoices to sponsors must detail the quantity and payment of each magazine purchased; and each sponsor must outline how the purchase promotes their business interests and how the copies will be used.

Unanimous Consent, Effective July 1, 2007
The board unanimously voted to modify Rule 2.6 Partnership Sales, agreeing to eliminate nondeductible partnership sales effective July 1, 2007. Qualifying programs may continue to be sold until that date. Copies from those programs may be served past July 1, 2007, for the duration of the initial agreement and be reported as paid partnership nondeductible in paragraph 6 (Supplemental Analysis of Average Paid, Verified & Analyzed Non-Paid Circulation) on corresponding ABC statements.

For Information
The ABC board passed a formal resolution stating that it considers Rapid Report to be an important initiative for the magazine industry and urges participation by all ABC consumer magazine members.

NEWSPAPERS

First Passage
The board gave first passage to amend Bylaw 10.2 Procedure to require that exception requests from newspaper members to the ABC board of directors be signed by the publisher of their newspaper.

Modify Rule C 5.11 Single-Issue Sales of Back Copies to allow the sales of each day’s newspaper until the on-sale date of the subsequent corresponding day (e.g., Monday – Monday).

Final Passage, Effective Nov. 13, 2006
The board agreed to modify Rule C 5.15 Purchase of Subscription List. When a publication purchases a subscription list of another publication that has ceased to exist (or about to cease publication), both publications must have been published in the same DMA or within a 100-mile radius. Otherwise, subscribers of the publication being purchased must “opt-in” to receive the acquiring publication.

Final Passage, Effective with the March 2007 audit period
The ABC board adopted steps to shorten audit-completion time by modifying Rule C 7.12 List of Towns Receiving 25 or More Copies, mandating that data required for disclosure in paragraph 3 in Audit Reports, as listed in Rule C 7.12 (a), must be submitted within thirty days of the member's assigned audit period end date. Failure to submit the data will result in the automatic exclusion from the applicable FAS-FAX report.

For information
The board deferred final passage of Rule C 5.17 Subscription Offer Based on Acceptance Unless Declined. At the July 2006 meeting, the board had granted the rule first passage to allow a publication to convert subscribers for any period of time without prior consent from the consumer, as long as they can easily cancel the upgrade and revert back to their original subscription. The board will revisit this topic at its March 2007 meeting.

FOR ALL MEMBERS

Unanimous Consent, Effective Nov. 13, 2006
ABC’s board of directors modified Bylaw 10.2 Exceptions/ Procedure to require that member exception requests be submitted at least 14 business days prior to an ABC board of directors meeting.

The board also unanimously agreed to modify Rule D 8.2 Premium Defined, Rule E 8.2 Premium Defined, Rule F 8.1 Premium Defined and Rule C 5.1 Premium Defined to allow publishing members the ability to provide free or discounted access to their online archives – provided it comes from the same editorial home – without influencing the qualification of current or future subscriptions.

The board revised Rule B 4.10 Reports Furnished to Publisher Members. Beginning January 1, 2007, ABC will no longer provide publisher members with ten free copies of their ABC reports. Affected members will continue to receive an electronic version (PDF) of their report at no charge.

The board also modified ABC’s Bylaws and Rules to extend indemnification bylaws in the governance of ABC and all its entities, including that of ABCi, and further specify the membership rights of associate members.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

The following individuals were elected to ABC’s board of directors and will serve two-year terms (unless otherwise noted):

U.S. Advertiser Division

• Merle K. Davidson, Market Media Director, Strategic Marketing/Media Services, J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc.
• Mark A. Kaline, Global Media Manager, Ford Motor Company
• Donald J. Miceli, Vice President, Global Media Resources, Kraft Foods
• Nancy J. Wiese, Vice President, Worldwide Brand Marketing/Advertising, Xerox Corporation
  
  
  One-year terms:
  • Brett N. Dennis, Director Media Marketing, T-Mobile
  • Patricia Wilkinson, Senior Director of Customer Relationship Marketing, The Home Depot

U.S. Advertising Agency Division

• Irene Hindman, Vice President & Media Director, Bader Rutter and Associates, Inc.
• Charles B. Rutman, Chief Executive Officer, MPG
• Judy Vogel, U.S. Director, Media Research & Consumer Insights, OMD
• David S. Walker, President, Business and Strategic Development, Newspaper Services of America, Inc.
  
  
  One-year term:
  • Robin Steinberg, Senior Vice President, Director of Print Investment, MediaVest USA

U.S. Business Publication Division

• Jill Manee, Vice President/Publisher, The Ad Age Group

Canadian Group

• Canadian Advertising Agency: Bruce Claassen, CEO, Genesis Media Inc.
• Canadian Advertising Agency: Hugh F. Dow, President, M2 Universal
• Canadian Daily Newspaper: Dennis Skulsky, President, CanWest Mediaworks Publications Inc. (Canada – Daily Newspapers published in Canada.)

U.S. Magazine Division

• Lorelei Calvert, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Texas Monthly
• John Q. Griffin, President, Magazine Group, National Geographic Society
• David W. Leckey, Executive Vice President, Consumer Marketing, American Media, Inc.
  
  
  One-year term:
  • Jack Griffin, President, Publishing Group, Meredith Corporation

U.S. Daily Newspaper Division

• Scott Heekin-Canedy, President and General Manager, The New York Times (Class 4 – Daily newspapers having 250,000 or more net paid circulation in the United States.)
• Mary Jacobus, President and COO, The New York Times Regional Media Group (Class 2 – Daily newspapers at-large published in the United States.)
• Frank R.J. Whittaker, Vice President of Operations, The McClatchy Company (Class 3 – Daily newspapers at-large published in the United States.)

ABC Board Officers (one-year terms)

• Chairman – Donald J. Miceli, Vice President, Global Media Resources, Kraft Foods
• Vice Chairs – Merle K. Davidson, Market Media Director, Strategic Marketing/Media Services, J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc.; Hugh F. Dow, President, M2 Universal; Alec Gerster, CEO, Initiative Worldwide; Mary Jacobus, President and COO, The New York Times Regional Media Group
• Secretary – Craig M. Sinclair, Vice President, Advertising, Walgreen Co.
• Treasurer – Frank R. J. Whittaker, Vice President of Operations, The McClatchy Company

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