Newspaper subscription

[Dave Siciliano]

Is everyone reading about how the newsprint business is dying? Well, I got my renewal subscription notice for the Dallas Morning News today. Last year, it cost $216 for a seven day a week subscription. This year, it's $360 to renew. Is that typical out there today?

I thought, well, this can't be right and called customer service. Got a nice young man and asked.

Well sir, that's the correct amount.
This is up over 40% from last year, why is that?
Well sir, we lost a lot of our advertising and materials increased in cost; so, we had to raise our prices.
O.K., I probably won't do that.

Well, I'll be. I may have to cancel the daily paper! I haven't continued anything where prices went up that amount in this economic environment.

This sounds like government policy making. They need more, so, you get to pay more; I think they're cutting their own throat.

Best,

Dave

 

[KennyFlys]

If they are losing advertising, could it be because of losing subscriptions? And, could losing subscriptions be due to their stories and level of "reporting"?

Dave, you're clearly part of the problem. Do your duty and subsidize those reporters who can't draw a loyal following on their own.

 

[gismo]

Is everyone reading about how the newsprint business is dying? Well, I got my renewal subscription notice for the Dallas Morning News today. Last year, it cost $216 for a seven day a week subscription. This year, it's $360 to renew. Is that typical out there today?

I thought, well, this can't be right and called customer service. Got a nice young man and asked.

Well sir, that's the correct amount.
This is up over 40% from last year, why is that?
Well sir, we lost a lot of our advertising and materials increased in cost; so, we had to raise our prices.
O.K., I probably won't do that.

Well, I'll be. I may have to cancel the daily paper! I haven't continued anything where prices went up that amount in this economic environment.

This sounds like government policy making. They need more, so, you get to pay more; I think they're cutting their own throat.

Best,

Dave

My local paper has been cutting costs by shrinking the paper, it's now about half as thick as it used to be. I assume this means they have reduced their labor costs everywhere except distribution. AFaIK they haven't raised the subscription rates but I think I'd better check as this is on automatic payment

 

[gismo]

If they are losing advertising, could it be because of losing subscriptions? And, could losing subscriptions be due to their stories and level of "reporting"?

Dave, you're clearly part of the problem. Do your duty and subsidize those reporters who can't draw a loyal following on their own.

I wonder what Dave's subscription would cost if he hung on until he was the last subscriber?

 

[jhausch]

I only get the Sunday paper - and that's been a little spotty lately, too.

I feel for them - they own the medium and the media. It worked for a long time.

AOL tried to control the content and the delivery and it did not work that well. Once all the papers are gone will we see the owners of the medium return to controlling the content?

 

[Dave Siciliano]

If they are losing advertising, could it be because of losing subscriptions? And, could losing subscriptions be due to their stories and level of "reporting"?

Dave, you're clearly part of the problem. Do your duty and subsidize those reporters who can't draw a loyal following on their own.

Actually, the DMN has received a number of reporting awards. I like it in general. Of course there are some things I don't agree with, but generally, it's reasonable and reflective of the more conservative attitudes here.

I also understand the industry is having a difficult time, but my industry is also. I don't think the homebuilders in my subdivisions would sell many houses by raising prices right now.

Best,

Dave

 

[rpadula]

I haven't subscribed to the newspaper in 15 years or so. Was sick of hauling a big stack of 'em to be recycled.

Of course, when your only choice in town is the AJC, it's easy to get along without it!

 

[CT Arrow]

I haven't subscribed to the newspaper in 15 years or so. Was sick of hauling a big stack of 'em to be recycled.

Ditto! we ditched the "rag" about 10 years ago. It was costly and a waste of paper.

 

[Anthony]

I am tired of local papers getting most of their news from sources like the AP and/or NYT. Except for a precious few, they are very biased and a total waste of the paper they are printed on. That is why they are folding or downsizing. I haven't bought a paper in years and I haven't subscribed to one since Gutenburg was printing them.

Save your money Dave and spend it on more 100LL.

 

[wabower]

Thanks for the heads-up. Don't know when mine is up, but AMF isn't just for bowling balls.

Is everyone reading about how the newsprint business is dying? Well, I got my renewal subscription notice for the Dallas Morning News today. Last year, it cost $216 for a seven day a week subscription. This year, it's $360 to renew. Is that typical out there today?

I thought, well, this can't be right and called customer service. Got a nice young man and asked.

Well sir, that's the correct amount.
This is up over 40% from last year, why is that?
Well sir, we lost a lot of our advertising and materials increased in cost; so, we had to raise our prices.
O.K., I probably won't do that.

Well, I'll be. I may have to cancel the daily paper! I haven't continued anything where prices went up that amount in this economic environment.

This sounds like government policy making. They need more, so, you get to pay more; I think they're cutting their own throat.

Best,

Dave

 

[mikea]

...This sounds like government policy making. They need more, so, you get to pay more; I think they're cutting their own throat.
...

Not just government, Bank of America and other credit card banks are concerned about borrowers possibly defaulting so they're raising interest rates across the board, especially on those that have never missed a payment, so they can cause more defaults and say, "See!"

 

[gprellwitz]

Not just government, Bank of America and other credit card banks are concerned about borrowers possibly defaulting so they're raising interest rates across the board, especially on those that have never missed a payment, so they can cause more defaults and say, "See!"

Yeah, just got hit with that. I'm unfortunately carrying a balance, and am considering moving that over to a home equity loan until I get it paid off. It had been at less than 6%.

 

[woodstock]

Not just government, Bank of America and other credit card banks are concerned about borrowers possibly defaulting so they're raising interest rates across the board, especially on those that have never missed a payment, so they can cause more defaults and say, "See!"

Mike, leave the banks alone. They are pure as the driven snow and only make the best business decisions based on sound capitalistic principals. If you screw up, well, you are obviously a loser who can't handle your money. Banks are being unfairly demonized by all this and I won't stand for it anymore.

 

[Jay Honeck]

My local paper has been cutting costs by shrinking the paper, it's now about half as thick as it used to be. I assume this means they have reduced their labor costs everywhere except distribution. AFaIK they haven't raised the subscription rates but I think I'd better check as this is on automatic payment

I was in the newspaper world full-time from 1981 to 2002. They've been cutting their own throats since at least the mid-'80s, when newspapers across the country abandoned the afternoon paper model in favor of morning delivery.

This decision (done solely for the advertisers, BTW, who wanted their ads "in-house" longer) meant sacrificing a hundred years of delivery service by teenagers, after school. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but you old-timers probably remember when you could get your newspaper put inside your back door every day, simply by ASKING. Imagine that kind of service today? If you asked for it, they would laugh.

Delivery at 4:30 AM is a completely different animal. No one is going to put a paper inside a back door (or any door, for that matter) at that time of day, so you've immediately ****ed off a certain percentage of your subscribers, who quit. Simply *finding* addresses in the dark, in the morning, is extremely difficult -- so service suffered further. More quit.

Then the publishers -- who actually grew accustomed to making 30% profits -- started pinching pennies when things got tight. As their profits dropped into the 25% range, we were told to cut back on everything -- including carrier pay. So, over the course of the 1990s, real carrier pay actually declined -- while at the same time we were converting to all-adult delivery. (Kids just aren't worth a plugged nickel at 5 AM -- and any who are any good are due to their parents getting them up. So, the thinking went, why not just eliminate the kids and hire the good parents?)

Over time, with gas prices soaring, the profit margin for carriers became razor thin -- and then disappeared. For the last decade it has become a simple equation: If the driver has to stop the delivery vehicle they WILL lose money on that delivery. This ****ed off even MORE people (especially newspaper customers North of the Mason-Dixon line, who expect the newspaper to be on their porch each morning), and cost them even more customers.

The publishers put the squeeze on the lowest person in their organization -- and (unfortunately for them) it is THOSE carriers who "make or break" the newspaper. So, the spiral began. Combine this terrible customer service with the internet providing FREE "news" (sort of), and the recipe for disaster was complete.

I got out of that world 7 years ago, right before the death-spiral began. NONE of the people I worked with for decades are still in the biz. It's sad, because without newspapers to lend a sense of community, our neighborhoods become ever-more "balkanized" -- splitting into little, separate, completely unrelated (and totally uninformed) groups.

 

[woodstock]

I was in the newspaper world full-time from 1981 to 2002. They've been cutting their own throats since at least the mid-'80s, when newspapers across the country abandoned the afternoon paper model in favor of morning delivery.

This decision (done solely for the advertisers, BTW, who wanted their ads "in-house" longer) meant sacrificing a hundred years of delivery service by teenagers, after school. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but you old-timers probably remember when you could get your newspaper put inside your back door every day, simply by ASKING. Imagine that kind of service today? If you asked for it, they would laugh.

Delivery at 4:30 AM is a completely different animal. No one is going to put a paper inside a back door (or any door, for that matter) at that time of day, so you've immediately ****ed off a certain percentage of your subscribers, who quit. Simply *finding* addresses in the dark, in the morning, is extremely difficult -- so service suffered further. More quit.

Then the publishers -- who actually grew accustomed to making 30% profits -- started pinching pennies when things got tight. As their profits dropped into the 25% range, we were told to cut back on everything -- including carrier pay. So, over the course of the 1990s, real carrier pay actually declined -- while at the same time we were converting to all-adult delivery. (Kids just aren't worth a plugged nickel at 5 AM -- and any who are any good are due to their parents getting them up. So, the thinking went, why not just eliminate the kids and hire the good parents?)

Over time, with gas prices soaring, the profit margin for carriers became razor thin -- and then disappeared. For the last decade it has become a simple equation: If the driver has to stop the delivery vehicle they WILL lose money on that delivery. This ****ed off even MORE people (especially newspaper customers North of the Mason-Dixon line, who expect the newspaper to be on their porch each morning), and cost them even more customers.

The publishers put the squeeze on the lowest person in their organization -- and (unfortunately for them) it is THOSE carriers who "make or break" the newspaper. So, the spiral began. Combine this terrible customer service with the internet providing FREE "news" (sort of), and the recipe for disaster was complete.

I got out of that world 7 years ago, right before the death-spiral began. NONE of the people I worked with for decades are still in the biz. It's sad, because without newspapers to lend a sense of community, our neighborhoods become ever-more "balkanized" -- splitting into little, separate, completely unrelated (and totally uninformed) groups.

What you say about the carriers getting shat upon, is spot on. I didn't know the reasoning behind the morning versus afternoon delivery though. I only actually read the paper, in the AM, on weekends. The week itself? IF I read the paper that day at all, it's either in the evening, or, a few-days-piled-up and I knock out the most important sections and skim the rest.

 

[Everskyward]

I only actually read the paper, in the AM, on weekends. The week itself? IF I read the paper that day at all, it's either in the evening, or, a few-days-piled-up and I knock out the most important sections and skim the rest.

That would seem to be the pattern for people who work a normal day. There isn't enough time to read the paper before leaving for work. The exception might be people who take public transportation to work and can read while commuting. The other set of people who read the paper in the morning are retired people. By the end of the day when most people come home the news is old, especially by modern standards.

The only time I read the physical paper is when we have a morning flight and stay somewhere all day. Since we always stock the paper I just take it off the airplane. I've noticed that on some flights the papers are picked through and on others the stack of them is untouched.

 

[Ddayle]

I get two daily papers, The Tacoma News tribune & the Seattle times. The times costs $260 a yr, the Trib a bit less. I cannot imagine being without my print news. DaveR

 

[bstratt]

Mike, leave the banks alone. They are pure as the driven snow and only make the best business decisions based on sound capitalistic principals. If you screw up, well, you are obviously a loser who can't handle your money. Banks are being unfairly demonized by all this and I won't stand for it anymore.

I'm glad someone has the courage to call it the way it is!

 

[mikea]

What you say about the carriers getting shat upon, is spot on. I didn't know the reasoning behind the morning versus afternoon delivery though. I only actually read the paper, in the AM, on weekends. The week itself? IF I read the paper that day at all, it's either in the evening, or, a few-days-piled-up and I knock out the most important sections and skim the rest.

I thought that one reason the PM papers died was there was no more need for the latest news of today you could read on the commute ride home. You would have heard it on TV or radio, and now, you saw it on the web from the office.

Face it. Now the morning papers and even the front page of the paper's web site has the news you read yesterday on the web. The morning TV and radio news, local and network, then reads it to you.

The only bright move is the Chicago Tribune doing the "Chicago Breaking News" mashup on the web which does have local news that just occurred. They'll need a couple of the newsroom staff they keep laying off to keep that going.

 

[KennyFlys]

I get two daily papers, The Tacoma News tribune & the Seattle times. The times costs $260 a yr, the Trib a bit less. I cannot imagine being without my print news. DaveR

You've got that many bird cages???

 

[Dave Siciliano]

So I called this morning to cancel the paper as the current subscription ends on 5/6. The offer me a deal. The new stated rate was $360, but, since I'm a loyal customer, they will offer a new rate of $270.

Told them that was still too much of an increase. So, they will send a $100 Visa gift card in addition to the new rate of $270.

So, my question is, why the Visa gift card. Why don't you just lower the rate by another $100. Well, that was over her head. So, I took the new deal.

Of course, next year, I'm sure they will say the old rate was $270 <g>.

Best,

Dave

 

[KennyFlys]

Perhaps their business reporter could explain this new subscriber retention plan and it's success rate?

 

[steingar]

The local paper (the Columbus Dispatched) only puts the Sunday paper (the only one I get) in a baggie if the weather is foul. Of course, if the weather isn't foul here its windy, so I wind up with newspaper scattered all over my lawn.

The real suckwad part of this is I pay the same for the local rag as I did for the Washington Post. I like the Post. More interesting articles and fewer typos.