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ABC Releases Hoy Audit
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (November 30, 2004) -- In an audit report released today, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) reported that Hoy (New York, N.Y.), a daily Spanish language newspaper owned by the Tribune Company, overstated its Daily and Sunday circulation by 46.4 percent and 23.3 percent, respectively during the 12-month period ending September 30, 2003.
The ABC audit specifically noted the following adjustments in Hoy’s circulation reporting for the period:
- Average audited daily circulation during the period was adjusted by 42,923 copies to 49,681 compared to 92,604 originally reported by Hoy – a difference of 46.4 percent.
- Average audited Sunday circulation during the period was adjusted by 7,733 copies to 25,465 compared to 33,198 originally reported by Hoy – a difference of 23.3 percent.
“Through comprehensive in-field auditing techniques, ranging from contacting individual subscribers to direct confirmation of single copy sales, we were able to determine the final circulation numbers with confidence,” said ABC president and managing director, Michael J. Lavery. “These findings also reinforce the need to place greater scrutiny on hawkers to achieve a higher level of accountability – a key action ABC members recently approved at our annual meeting.”
The ABC Board censured Hoy in July when its circulation discrepancies were first discovered for circumventing the rules that govern members. As a result of its censure, Hoy is now subject to twice-yearly circulation audits and its circulation claims will be excluded from FAS-FAX, ABC’s semi-annual report of “top-line” publisher circulation claims, for a period of one-year beginning September 30, 2004. Hoy was also required to submit to the ABC Board a plan of action for correcting the practices found by the audit to be deficient.
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.
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Corporate Communications Contacts:
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Senior Vice President, Communications and Strategic Planning
t: 847-879-8442 |
Manager, Communications
t: 847-879-8232 |
Manager, Communications
t: 847-879-8432
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