Single-Copy Promotions Guidebook—U.S. Newspapers

Premiums

Premiums are defined as any item or inducement offered to an individual to entice them to purchase a newspaper. The premium item could be anything that is:

• Free
  • “Buy a newspaper today and get a free donut!”
  • The donut is a premium.
• A discount
  • “Buy a newspaper today and get 40¢ off the purchase of any bottle of water!”
  • The 40-cent discount is a premium.
  • Note: Coupons in the newspaper (ROP and FSI) are not considered premiums.

The following items are not considered premiums:

• Publications (newspaper and periodical) published four or more times per year. In these cases Combination Sales rules would apply.
• Free or discounted access to the archives or back content.
• Free or discounted access to online content or electronic edition from the same editorial home page of the publication.
• Merchandise offered to consumer where receipt of that item is not contingent on the purchase of the newspaper.
• See also Rule C 5.1 Premium Defined

Pricing

ABC rules require that when a premium is offered in a single-copy sale, the consumer must pay at least 25 percent of basic single-copy prices, plus no less than the full value of the premium. See Rule C 5.2 Premiums with Subscriptions/Single Copy Sales

The full value of the premium is considered to be the highest of the following:

• Stated value (value stated on the promotional material)
• Retail value (price it would cost the consumer to buy item in the public marketplace)
• Cost to publisher (cost to obtain or produce the item)

In some cases, an item may not be sold to the public and the promotional material will not state a value. In those cases, the cost to publisher would be used to determine the premium value. However, if more than one value exists, the premium value is always considered the highest value for ABC qualification.

Promotional Material

All promotional material must:

• State the selling price of the newspaper.
• State the premium being offered with the sale of the newspaper.
• Reflect a qualifying price.

The promotional material may state the premium is free to the consumer with the purchase of the newspaper. The newspaper itself may not be stated or implied as free.

Examples—Premiums

Reporting

Circulation generated from single-copy sales with premiums is reflected in Paragraphs 1A, 2, and 6B of the ABC Publisher’s Statement.

In Paragraph 1A, the circulation is classified as Single-Copy Sales under Paid for by Individual Recipients. For individually paid circulation, ABC requires a newspaper to delineate between circulation sold at 50 percent or more of basic prices and circulation sold at less than 50 percent, but at least 25 percent of basic prices. For the newspaper sold with a premium, the single-issue sales should be included in the appropriate price category based on the price the consumer actually paid for the newspaper.

In Paragraph 2, the circulation is classified as Single Copy (Individual), based on the specific ABC zone where the sale to the consumer occurred.

Paragraph 6B will include a description of the single-copy premium programs. For each program, the description will identify the selling price for the newspaper, the premium item, the value of the premium item, and the number of copies sold for that promotion.