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ABC Board Addresses Censure Provisions, Enhanced Publicity Measures, Approves Hawker Rule and Discusses Other Key Issues

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (November 24, 2004) - The Board of Directors of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) approved actions on several topics at the its Board Meeting in Toronto, November 10-13, 2004. The Board discussed and approved a number of operating policies regarding the implementation of censure-related sanctions and extended communications to include online posting of granted exception requests and audit delinquency listings. A comprehensive overview of actions taken, including specific rule and reporting parameters, will be published in ABC’s December 2004 NewsBulletin and featured on ABC’s website at www.accessabc.com.

Censure Business Rules

The Board approved a number of operating policies regarding the implementation of censure-related sanctions:

  • The application of censure will be reserved for action by the ABC Board. Therefore, the Board will consider these matters at each of its meetings on the basis of the merits of the issues and circumstances.

  • For newspapers, a censure review will be triggered when an audit adjustment is greater than five percent based on a five-day weekly average or Saturday and Sunday, considered individually.

  • Newspapers with circulations of less than 25,000 will be considered using a "two consecutive audit findings greater than five percent” approach similar to the application of audit results for periodicals.

  • For periodicals, a censure review will be triggered when audit adjustments are greater than five percent for two consecutive audits on the average of all issues, not any singular issue.

    • Newspapers

    Unanimous Consent

    Effective January 1, 2005, the Board voted to adopt Rule C 5.25 Hawker (Street) Sales requiring that newspapers electing to claim, as paid circulation, copies of newspapers sold through hawkers, maintain a reporting environment that will accurately determine sales from hawkers and support an ABC audit. Records supporting hawker sales include, but are not limited to: contemporaneous daily records by hawker location, identifying draw, returns, selling times, compensation and cash collections.

    Consumer Magazines

    The Board reaffirmed its position on F 2.1 Sponsored Sales stating that publishers or subscription selling agents and subsidiaries are not eligible purchasers of sponsored copies.

    In regards to consumer magazine audit completion, the Board endorsed a hybrid methodology to account for credit cancels (in addition to current direct and averaging methods) and acknowledged new technologies that allow ABC to access records within a shorter time frame in order to calculate net single copy sales.

    Effective immediately, the Board supported the optional release of quarterly Publisher Statements.

    Unanimous Consent

    The Board adopted a “Loyalty Point Program Policy” governing the qualification and reporting of subscriptions “purchased” through the use of award/loyalty points.

    Business Publications

    Unanimous Consent

    Effective immediately, the Board revised Rule D 11.1 Additions and Removals and Rule D 12.2 Non-Paid Circulation Other Than Direct Request to allow business publications that obtain 90 percent or more of their qualified non-paid circulation from and serve the medical industry, such as The American Medical Association (AMA), The American Dental Association (ADA), The American Osteopathic Association (AOA), to not require consecutive issuance and to omit reporting addition and removal statistics in ABC reports.

    Reader Profile

    Unanimous Consent

    Effective immediately, the Board approved changes to the Reader Profile report to reflect the following:

  • Inclusion of an "Average Frequency" estimate (Monday through Friday, Sunday), “Gross Rating Point” estimate (Monday through Friday, Sunday) and re-label the existing estimate "Percent of Adult Coverage" to "Reach (18+)."

  • Readership by category (subscribers, single-copy, pass-along/other) will be required to be reported when the 100 response minimum has been achieved.

  • Standardization of data longevity for all newspapers above 25,000 average paid circulation at 24 months beginning with the conclusion of research fieldwork. All studies fielded after April 11, 2005 will be required to have at least 500 completed interviews regardless of size.

  • Modification of existing response breaks and reporting requirements for children to “under 6,” “6-11” and “12-17” for all studies.

  • Modification of the minimum responses for primary residence to "rent" or "own".

    • All Publications

    The Board approved publicity of exception requests to ABC rules to be posted on the ABC website, www.accessabc.com. Details with respect to requests that have not been granted will not appear, however the number of requests considered will be listed.

    The Board also approved the development of a delinquent audit listing to appear on ABC’s website, listing delinquent audits and citing the reason for their tardiness.

    Other News

    ABC also announced a cooperative membership agreement with the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA). In this era of greater demand for accountability from the media by advertisers, an ABC/ACA partnership sends a collaborative message to the publishing industry that major Canadian advertisers endorse third party auditing of circulation claims and strongly encourage all publications to be audited.

    New Directors

    The following Directors were elected to the ABC Board:

  • John Q. Griffin, president, magazine group, National Geographic Society

  • Scott Heekin-Canedy, president and general manager, The New York Times

  • Howard G. Sutton, publisher, The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)

  • David S. Walker, president, business and strategic development, Newspaper Services of America

    • With nearly 4,300 members, ABC is in its 90th year as the first and largest circulation-auditing organization in the world, maintaining the industry’s foremost electronic database of audited-circulation information and a growing array of verified readership, subscriber demographics and online activity data. ABC offers reports and services in a variety of flexible formats, including print, spreadsheet, CD-ROM and online at http://www.accessabc.com.



    Corporate Communications Contacts:


    Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning, Communications and General Manager, ABC Interactive
    t: 224-366-6363
    Manager, Communications
    t: 224-366-6365
    Assistant Manager, Communications
    t: 224-366-6432