• Change the qualification of paid circulation to one cent or more per subscription or single copy, net of all considerations.

• Day-of-week reporting becomes optional for newspapers with total average paid circulation less than 50,000.
• Newspapers with a total average paid circulation of less than 50,000 will have the option of participating in every-other-year audits.

Currently, the threshold for these options is 25,000 or less.

• Publishers may upgrade a current subscriber’s frequency without prior consent, provided the following requirements are met:
  • Subscriber is notified of the upgrade on the first day of delivery.
  • Notification advises the subscriber of the delivery and term changes and offers clear and conspicuous instructions to opt out.
  • Upgraded delivery term is at least 12 weeks.
  • If a subscriber opts out within the first 12 weeks, all previously served circulation must be removed from paid circulation.
  • Advertisers must be notified 120 days in advance of all programs through ABC’s Web site.
  • Publishers must provide full disclosure of the upgraded subscriber programs in the explanatory paragraph of ABC reports.
  
  
  
• A publisher may eliminate an existing frequency and convert all of those subscribers to a new delivery schedule that is available to the public. The additional service is known as a “forced” conversion and can qualify as paid circulation provided the following criteria are met:
  • The frequency change must be incorporated in all promotional and sales materials no later than 30 days prior to the first delivery date of the new frequency.
  • All frequency changes must be applied to a defined geographic area.
  • The discontinued frequency cannot be reinstated within the affected geography for six months after its discontinuance.
  • All affected households must receive clear and conspicuous notice of the change.
  • No inference should be made that the change in frequency is temporary.

Advertisers must be notified of all frequency conversion programs, both “opt out” and “forced,” at least 120 days in advance via an ABC-hosted Web site.

• To qualify circulation generated by a new joint distribution agreement, subscribers must be given the opportunity to opt out of the program.
• JDA programs currently in effect will be “grandfathered in” and the circulation will continue to count as paid.

• Same city newspapers or newspapers in overlapping markets will no longer have the option of eliminating a day solely because another newspaper in their market eliminated that day.
• Newspapers are still allowed a maximum of 10 omitted days in a 12-month period.

• More straightforward definition requires paid circulation to represent payment by an individual reader or specialized distribution channel.

• Circulation that does not meet the revised definition of “paid” is classified in a new “verified” category.
• Verified circulation is comprised of subscription copies delivered to public places or individual readers that are not subject to the paid circulation qualification standards.
• With the exception of reoccuring delivery within a retail outlet, single-copy distribution is not eligible to be included in verified circulation.
• Examples of “verified” circulation include NIE copies, third-party sales, newspaper employee copies, etc.

• Includes copies distributed at hotels and subscriptions purchased by a business for a group of employees.
  • Business Copies – copies or subscriptions purchased in quantities of two or more for designated employees.
  • Traveler Copies – copies purchased by hotel guests or by hotels for guests, includes two subcategories:
    • Guest-Refund Based
    • Purchased by Hotel

• Total Average Circulation reported in Paragraph 1.
• Paragraph 1A modified to include three tiers: Individually Paid Circulation; Paid Business/Traveler Circulation; Verified Circulation
• Includes reporting by distribution channel.
• Most geographical reporting becomes optional.

• Intermittent subscription circulation is phased out of paid circulation over a two-year period.
• Beginning in 2011, all intermittent subscriptions are classified as “verified.”
• Through 2011, the current rule will remain in effect, with the following stipulations:
  • Publishers are required to post all intermittent subscription details on an ABC-hosted Web site no less than 120 days prior to delivery.
  • The posting must include the date of delivery and the number of copies served as a part of the program.
  • Failure to post the required information may disqualify the intermittent copies from paid circulation.
  • Publishers serving intermittent subscription circulation must begin notifying ABC of their plans by 12/01/08 to meet the 120 day advance notification requirement.

2009 – A maximum of 50 intermittent days may be claimed as paid for the 12-month period covering the September 2009 and March 2010 Publisher's Statements.

2010 – A maximum of 25 intermittent days may be claimed as paid for the 12-month period covering the September 2010 and March 2011 Publisher's Statements.

2011 – All intermittent subscriptions are reported as “verified” circulation.