Retail industry execs have long claimed that any customer has to be stupid to buy a magazine at the newsstand when circ promotions tell them they would save big-time by buying a subscription. How much do they save?
For the first time, thanks to the concept of “average price,” comparative information has been supplied to the industry that shows clearly what consumer magazines are doing with their pricing on subs vs. single copies.
John Harrington of Harrington Associates did an analysis in the Single Copy Newsletter (June 14) that shows publishers of the best-selling newsstand magazines are selling their subscription copies for anywhere from 80.4 % (TV Guide) of what the newsstand price would be to as low as 14.9% (Newsweek).
Other big discounters among all ABC titles with single copy sales per issue over 500,000 are Time (19.2%), Rolling Stone (19.7%), Country Home (20.4%), and Official XBox Magazine (22.4%).
The numbers are based on combined first half and second half 2003 ABC fast fax reports.
Harrington explains that this is the first time he has made these comparisons because average subs price has only been reported on the pink sheets by ABC for a couple of years. At first it was optional and very few publishers provided the information. The information has only become mandatory in the last year.
No trend information on single copy vs. sub pricing is available, according to Harrington. . “Although there is a general perception magazines are increasing their discounts, there is no proof,” he told The Circulator.
Dan Capell, editor of The Circulation Report, reported in the June 2204 issue that subscription pricing has been flat for the last two years, while total subscription volume for AB titles is down 8% over the last three years. He further stated that “average price paid” has become a significant measurement for the ad community.”
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