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How thick was your Thanksgiving newspaper?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Football_Bat, Nov 27, 2008.

  1. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Turns out I was able to fill the 23 pages (OK, more like 17 after all the ads). Plus a 24-year-old girl died probably by OD'ing at a drug den, as well as a third teen in 8 days driving his (parents') car into a golf course pond; the same golf course pond.

    I'm drained mentally.
     
  2. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    Thick like a steak.
     
  3. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    I had a publisher say that inserts were like free money.
    I agree with that, so I guess I don't understand what you are saying.
     
  4. Gold

    Gold Active Member

    The Riverside Press Enterprise charged the $1.50 Sunday price for the Thanksgiving paper. I have never seen that before. This wouldn't affect regular subscribers. I might be upset if I were an advertiser, since I want more people to read my ads.

    There were a lot of ads because the stores still need to sell things. However, this means the Sunday papers might not carry as many inserts.
     
  5. HejiraHenry

    HejiraHenry Well-Known Member

    Yes.

    But I prefer to look at it this way. $1.50 is the retail price of the paper every day. We just cut it to 50 cents through the week to help generate traffic.
     
  6. luckyducky

    luckyducky Guest

    I know Tacoma was charging the same for today's paper as they do for a Sunday edition.

    Read the Seattle paper (P-I, I think ... but not sure if they combined for T-day) at my folks' house. About twice the size of their typical Sunday paper, but at least 75 percent were Black Friday ads.
     
  7. Gold

    Gold Active Member

    It's not like there is more news or local stories, there are just more advertisements. In the Sunday paper, you are getting bigger sections, an opinion secton, and other things.

    Henry, how many daily newspapers do you think people would pay $1.50 for, given the reduction in space. As I have always understood it, the price of the paper is supposed to cover the cost of the newspaper and ink.
     
  8. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    Well, I suppose he's right.
    Inserts are charged a destination charge -- a delivery charge. Much like the U.S. Postal Service would. It's pennies. Literally. Now, since your delivery people are already going to the homes to deliver the paper, there are no additional costs for deliverance of the inserts. That's what your publisher was referencing.
    Here's the concept failure that publishers didn't realize when making the bulk-rate delivery deals:
    Take an advertiser's perspective. Most of which were traditional newspaper advertisers. Why would you advertise in the newspaper with a full-page color ad for $5,000 when you can have an eight-page, full-color insert delivered to the same audience. Published for pennies and delivered for pennies.
    The papers only reaping the destination charge and not one, single advertising dollar. It's "free money" in the face of ruining your own business model.
     
  9. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    When we should be charging more than USPS. We're undervaluing our product. Valupak usually gets tossed in my trash can. Same for my neighbors. Coupons in the Sunday paper usually get read. Papers provide a more captive audience.
     
  10. KG

    KG Active Member

    I didn't even realize it until I read this post, but the AJC charged its usual Sunday price of $2 for the Thanksgiving issue.
     
  11. I Digress

    I Digress Guest

    Paper was normal. I have never seen more inserts in my life. Kohl's looked like a magazine.
     
  12. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    They sold our paper outside the building starting at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday night' pop-up canopies and halogen lights. Four TV stations were doing remotes watching these people drive up to get the ads.
     
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